Retribution 01: Partners, Again
by cpneb
Summary: Retribution, Defined, is next, and you’ll get your answers there.  Here are your answers to  Retribution, Stephanie, Sheri Nicole, Rockwaller Industries: most definitely, a cornucopia of very disturbing events: you're warned...Chapter 5 has arrived....
1. Chapter 1: After I followed your lead…

Partners, Again

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….).

This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

A hearty thank you goes out to whitem for his comments and suggestions: I actually listened to some of them! And, an unsolicited plug for his "What If?" - no tomatoes required, and the angst and humor is indeed a great mix ('Hangst' is in for this season!).

Read and Review, and Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: After I followed your lead….

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Leaving the building, the two women, both walking confidently in themselves and their appearance, were escorted through the crowded walkway by building security. They would normally stop traffic, but not for this reason.

The media was having its usual raucous field day; this breaking story was huge, and their editors wanted answers ASAP.

"Ms. Stoppable! Ms. Stoppable! Do you have any comments about the charges being leveled at you by Rockwaller Industries, Inc.?"

"No comment," was all that the media got as a response as the two women stepped into the limousine, the security agents closed the doors, and the women were driven away to the airport.

"Jason, is the plane ready?"

"Yes ma'am, Ms. Stoppable."

"Jason!"

"I'm sorry…Kim."

"That's better, Jason: you're not talking to my husband's mother," and Jason grinned.

"The aircraft has been fueled and is ready for departure," Jason added.

"Thank you, Jason," and he raised the privacy window between him and the women.

The two women sat in silence, and the second woman spoke.

"Well, Kim?" and Kim showed a purposeful and determined grin.

"This time, Rockwaller Industries is going down," and her business associate smiled. "They've stepped over the line, this time; bringing our families and friends into it sealed their fates.

"Are Felix and Mon all right?" Kim asked after a few seconds.

"They are, now. Felix has two broken arms and a deep chest wound, but nothing life-threatening. Mon only has a couple of cuts and bruises."

"Felix was trying to protect Mon, but she was actually the one who took out the three assassins," Kim remarked, and her associate smiled again.

"I told her that that training would come in handy, someday, but I never imagined it would be like this."

"Have you heard from the guys?" Kim asked.

"Before we left the office," her associate replied, "I got the call from my local contact. Everyone is safe, and they'll be home before we will."

"Good," was Kim's only response and they were quiet for a few more minutes, and then Kim asked the unspoken question.

"What about BonBon?"

"She's doing much better. She's still in the ICU; she was hurt bad, and the surgeons were worried about the severity and viciousness of the injuries, and she's even more devastated by the news of who had initiated the attack on her, but the doctors say that she should be able to be moved out of the ICU and to a private room in three or four days.

"I don't know how she'll be as she has more time to think about what's happened to her," the woman continued. "The doctors aren't sure about the injuries to her legs and lower back, and they're mixed in their opinions of her recovery, but Bonnie knows who saved her life, and she'll have even more time to think about **that**," and Kim smiled at that thought.

"Besides, Bonnie is strong, so I would bet she'll be back with a vengeance," the woman added.

"Good," was the verbal response from Kim. 'What happened to Bonnie shouldn't have happened to the lowest of the low. I never did anything like that to Shego; well, other than that kick…' and Kim thought briefly about her kick that night on top of the building….

Silence, and then…

"Have you thought any more about the idea, Kim?"

Kim grinned. "I think it's a great idea!"

"Good, because I've already put things in motion. It's scheduled now for next Friday night, at the old high school. They're holding up the demolition for it."

"I'm glad you thought of it; I'd –"

"You forgot, didn't you?"

"Well," Kim looked embarrassed, "I didn't **exactly** remember," and the two women laughed.

"It was just another project for you, Kim, but it started a change in me."

"So you've told me," Kim replied.

Silence, then she softly said to Kim:

"Thank you."

"How many times are you going to tell me that?" Kim looked exasperated as they stepped out of the limo and walked the 10 steps to the ramp that led to their corporate aircraft.

The crew had already put the boarding ramp in place, and the captain stood in the aircraft's door, smiling and waiting.

"Where to, Kim?" 'As if he didn't already know,' Kim thought, and grinned.

"Let's go home, Russell," Kim replied as they quickly boarded. The crew closed the door, and the aircraft began to back away from the ramp as the women were strapping in by the time that the aircraft pulled in the takeoff queue.

Two minutes, and the aircraft began their return trip to Middleton.

-----

10 minutes after they were airborne, Kim asked her, again.

"How many more times are you going to say that?"

"Say what?"

"'Thank you.'"

The woman looked at Kim and sighed.

"Kim, you still don't get it, even after all these years; I guess I never told you the whole story, or maybe you 'forgot,'" and the woman grinned as Kim groaned. "You saved me, and before you say that it was 'No Big,' Kim, it was bigger than big.

"What you did, and what you said to me, literally changed my life."

Kim was silent, and then she spoke.

"I just wanted to be a part of the project, but you wouldn't listen to anything that I suggested. Finally, you and I had to work together to succeed. I had no idea that one series of events changed you that much," Kim thought for a few seconds, and then she continued.

"Well, not until we talked, much later, during that summer at Uncle Slim's Lazy R ranch."

"Those two days with you, Kim, and your friends: treating me like a friend, and being around all of those people who didn't judge me, made me start to think about my life: how I treated people, and how I'd been treated.

"And, that's how it all started, Kim," and the woman sniffed back a tear.

"You made me realize that I was somebody special, but not the way I'd been told for the last five years."

"I treated you like a friend, and you were," Kim replied, testily, just a bit more than uncomfortable with her business associate's revelations.

"But, no one ever treated me like that. You showed me what could happen if I ignored Bonnie's precious 'food chain,' and I'd never have met my husband or seen my children smile if I hadn't," and she unsuccessfully held back her emotions.

Kim sat there, and let her let it all out, then reached over and touched her hand.

"You didn't know what I'd just been through, GF. I had just admitted to Wade, someone to whom I owed my life several times over, how I'd **used** him for four years, and he** forgave **me," as Kim pushed through her own barriers, now much easier to do after more than 20 years, "and that made me realize that I needed to get right with you, while I still had a chance. I took that chance, just as you did," she added.

"I did it, Kim, only after watching you that afternoon and what you did. I followed your lead, and look where it's brought me," and she smiled through her remaining tears of joy.

-----

"So," Kim asked tentatively, "what do you think of the offer?"

"Kim, it looks good, but I always talk about things like this with my husband, first: he's my partner, and we make all of our business decisions jointly."

"I have no problem with that. If you come on, both of you will be named as partners," Kim stated calmly, and her associate looked up, quite surprised.

"What? I did the same thing with Mon and Felix as well as with Wade and Jocelyn, so why should you two be treated any differently?"

"I…just wasn't expecting that, Kim." She paused for a few seconds to formulate her response. "That's a very generous offer."

"Selfish on my part: with what your husband's done in the education field, he's reason enough to bring you two into the firm."

"So, now the truth comes out!" she smiled a knowledgeable smile. "You just want him **and** Ron," and Kim blushed a deep red. "I knew it! You've always wanted him for his **magnificent** body, and, for you, my pitiful mind is just an after-dinner mint!"

"NO!" Kim almost ripped the seat belt straining to get up, and then she looked at her associate's grin.

"Gotcha, Kimberly," she grinned, and Kim fell back into her seat, and Kim's smile rapidly turned into a grin, then a chuckle, then a chortle, and finally a full belly-laugh.

She and her travel companion laughed most of the rest of the trip.

-----

Russell came over the intercom. "Kim, we're coming in to Middleton International, and we'll be on the ground in five. Ladies, your husbands and families are at our gate, and, Kim, Ron says, and I quote, 'I want me some KP!'" Russell added, and chuckled as he relayed Ron's message to Kim. Kim blushed, and her traveling companion laughed.

"Now, do you understand, Kim?" and Kim smiled at her associate.

"I understand more than before," Kim answered and the plane banked in for the landing, "but I think that this is going to be a long tale, not told on this aircraft.

"I'm thinking Che' Ronald's for dinner, perhaps the trout," Kim suggested, remembering Ron's tales of how much Dr. Betty Director, the Global Justice Director, had enjoyed Ron's dish; the first time that he served it to her, she'd snuck back into the kitchen, late one night, and devoured 2 whole trout and the rest of the dinner leftovers.

"The trout: it's so good, Kim! We've had it more times than I can count," she added, and Kim smiled.

"How do you keep your figure, Kim, with Ron cooking the way that he does?" Her friend asked, and Kim replied simply:

"Ron-aerobics," Kim smiled sweetly, and the women laughed heartily as they both thought that they needed to discuss 'exercise' with their husbands when they got home.

"Good. Now, let's get you cleaned up; I don't want your husband to think I'd been practicing a 20th style of Kung Fu on you!" and the women laughed as they wiped away their tears.

-----

"Touching down, now," Russell was perfect in his landing the corporate craft, and he brought them into the gate with little delay.

The crew threw open the doors, and Kim smiled a huge smile as she saw her husband and children, all safe from harm, and she saw her associate's husband and their children in the same state. They barely made it to the ground before -

"Mommy!" both women were simultaneously assaulted by the herds of wild animals that they affectionately called their children. They both smiled and yielded willingly to the oncoming massed that glued themselves onto their respective sets of shapely legs. Their husbands smiled: the kids missed their moms, and the moms' returns to the hanger were always times for celebration.

"KP, are you all right?" Ron asked as she pried herself away from the kids and kissed her husband, Ronald Stoppable, the man of her dreams, her husband, and BFF.

"Never better, RS," she replied, and smiled at her him. "You need to make me a trout dinner, tonight: I'm feeling 'very needy.'" and she gave him the PDP.

"Poof: you're a trout dinner," Ron replied, matter-of-factly, and the kids all giggled, and Kim glowered, but only for a moment: she could never stay mad for long at her husband. Then, she had an evil idea, and she leaned over to his head and held it so the kids could not see what she was doing: she licked his right ear, and whispered:

"There's 'Kimshine' afterwards, if you're really, really, good," to which he replied:

"BOOYAH," in his mature, manly, and totally Ron fashion.

-----

"Hello, beautiful. I missed you,'" as her associate's husband picked her up and twirled her around after she was released by her kids.

"I'll never get tired of hearing that," she replied with a grin, and then she kissed her husband tenderly. "I love hearing it almost as much as I love you," she added, and he smiled and kissed her chastely on the cheek as he put her down. "Are you all right?" she asked, and he nodded.

She then pulled him down so that she could whisper something into his ear.

"Let's get to the house," she whispered into his ear, and he smiled. "Ron's cooking tonight; and it's the trout that you love so much at his restaurant," and she nibbled his ear.

Mike Cotton grinned and whispered something in her ear; she blushed and kissed him even more intently.

"Later, lover: after the trout's gone, and the kids are asleep," she whispered, and he grinned.

"Now, that's **not** freaky," he replied, in his normal voice, and all four adults laughed and the kids all looked confused.

"Lucky me," Mike added softly as he hugged his wife again, and the two families all walked to the limos that would take them back to the Stoppable home

"Welcome home, Ms. Cotton," and her driver held the door open for her.

"Stephen!"

"I'm sorry…Justine,"

"That's better, Stephen: you're not talking to my husband's mother," and Stephen grinned.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, and she stepped into the limousine with her family. Stephen closed her door, got into the driver's seat, and started the drive to their new temporary home.

Ron and Kim Stoppable had volunteered their new 'Naco-mansion' to Mike and his family, as well, for 'as long as they needed,' Ron had told Mike and Justine.

The Cotton home now no longer existed; it had been torched and then bombed by, according to the authorities' official reports, 'an unknown individual or unknown parties,' but all of the adults in the limousines knew better

It was time for the implementation of Retribution.

Both Kim and Justine knew who they had to call, and both were afraid, not of the reaction, but of the consequences of that call.

-----

chapter now complete….

- - -

A/N: This is a new arc, set in the future of my Jade 'Kimverse,' so get ready for some more Betty and Wade and Jocelyn and Mon and Felix. Toto, we're not in high school, anymore...

Thanks for reading, and please review.


	2. Chapter 2: Carry the Load

Partners, Again

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the song referenced in this story and the music are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time).

This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

**A/N Forward: **

We've seen some of what's happening from Kim's and Justine's points of view, in chapter 1. Next are Wade/Joss, Rebecca Jane, and Felix/Mon's points of view, **and** some surprises (some bad, some not so bad…) in this chapter of Partners, Again.

The story rating has changed to 'M' for a reason….

Thanks in advance for reading, and please review.

- - - - - - -

**Chapter 2: Carry the Load**

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Dr. Andrea Jocelyn Possible-Load was ready to kill her children.

Not literally, of course, but the thought had crossed her mind.

"WADE!" she called.

"Yes, Sweet Tea?" and Dr. Wade Load came into the living area with a kid under each arm: son under the left, daughter under the right.

"You caught 'em."

"Shore 'nuff, darlin'," he said with a straight face, and then chuckled. "They thought they could hide in the second garage. They should'a known that I was coming back," he added as he deposited them on the couches.

"Well?" she asked them, and they sat up and stared at her for a moment, then ducked their heads.

"Sorry, Momma," the daughter finally grunted.

"Yeah, I'm real sorry, Momma," the son echoed.

"Sorry don't clean up that mess in the kitchen, y'all. Get in there and clean it up so Daddy can make dinner," she pointed at the kitchen.

"Aw, Man, not Mexican food, again!" they both groused as they got up and shuffled into the kitchen.

Wade had to ask: "How bad is it, Joss?"

"It would have been all right if they'd just not cleaned up after lunch and left it all afternoon: the cats pulled all of the remains off of the counter and onto the floor and then played hockey with bunches of potato chips, is all.

"If they worked at it, they'll be out in 15 minutes.

"Since they're in 'a mood,' I figure it'll be at least 45 before you can get in there."

"No big; I've got to check messages before I start, anyway, and you still owe me that kiss from this morning," Wade added, with a Wade-style PDP.

Joss laughed, kissed her husband, then swatted him on the rear as he headed into the backup Command Center.

'How did I get this lucky?' she asked herself for the millionth time as she walked into their bedroom to change. 'And, can he cook...' she giggled to herself

She had just pulled off her shoes, wiggling her feet in her hose, when Wade came back in with a PossCom in his hand. He looked worried and concerned.

"What happened, Wade?"

"Kim just sent a message: Bonnie was attacked; she's in the hospital, in surgery. They're not sure if she'll live, but the surgeon is hoping she'll make it; he won't be sure if she'll be able to walk until after he gets in and assesses the damage."

"What happened?" she asked as she removed her blouse and dropped it on the bed.

"Officially, the police don't know. Unofficially, Rebecca Jane heard her scream, purely by coincidence: she was leaving the building after visiting friends when Bonnie was attacked, and RJ took two of the attackers out and wounded the last one. RJ took him back to the nearest GJ remote site for questioning, but all three had RI ids on them.

"Rockwaller Industries? Going after Bonnie?"

"She's gotten way too close, and they aren't amused, dear," and he watched as his wife removed her skirt and hose and padded over to the closet to get her second-favorite off-work attire: jeans and a t-shirt.

'Some things never change," Wade thought as he admired his wife's glorious body as she stretched up, the muscles rippling in her back framed by her wonderful red hair. She felt his stare, and turned to see his usual smile as he watched her come back to the end of the bed and deposit her clothes.

"What?" she asked as he continued to stare at her.

"Nothing, Jocelyn.

"I still enjoy watching you get undressed."

She crossed her arms and smiled, (she thought) inwardly. "That's because you're a typical man, Wade, and you have a **butt** fetish."

"No, it's because I have a beautiful **and** intelligent wife who's given me two wonderful children, I have a red-hair **and** a Jocelyn fetish, and I've had the Jocelyn fetish since I was two years old," Wade corrected her as he pulled her close and kissed her passionately.

"That, and I **still** love strawberries," he whisper-smirked, then swatted her panty-covered bottom and headed towards the door.

"It hasn't been that long, lover; what's for dinner?" she asked, and he stopped and turned back to her.

"What would you like for dinner, my gossamer-haired berry-goddess?"

"Ooooh, **that** just got you four more kisses," and she ran over to him and grabbed him, kissing him four times quickly, and then once with feeling.

"One for being you, Wade," she added as he looked at her and was about to question her math skills.

"How about we go over to _booyah's_ and see if the new head chef is in a trouty-kinda mood?"

"I'll even get dressed for that," she replied as she pulled on her jeans.

"You'd better: I don't want them serving Joss-shine to any of the other patrons; that's **my** meal," and he left as the PossCom signaled an incoming recorded message, this one from Rebecca Jane (RJ) Casey-Carlos.

"Hold up, dear," he said as he listened to RJ's report, and Wade's face visibly changed to anger.

"They attacked Mike's school, Jocelyn," Wade growled, and Jocelyn Possible reacted as any mother would:

"THEY WENT AFTER A SCHOOL?" she yelled, and she threw a shoe at the wall. "THOSE S-O-B'S!"

"Yea, but Ron was there with Mike, so they picked the wrong time to attack," he replied, calmer than his wife but just as angry.

"Anyone hurt?" and she retrieved her shoe and calmed down a bit.

"Only the bad guys, Joss. They had RI ids on them, too."

"Stupid, too. Has RJ learned anything else about Mike and Justine's house?"

'Joss took a left at Denver,' Wade thought, 'and ended in Miami with that conversation curveball.'

"Yea, she sent that in the message. RI was the culprit, also: the retro-chemical analysis that I ran of the explosives confirmed that the makings had been stored at RI for the last 4 months before they were used. She just got the last of the analyses back from the team."

"Wade," her voice was softer as she patted the bed, and he came over and sat next to her.

"Yes, Sweet Tea?"

"Do you think it's gonna happen?"

"I'm afraid so, Jocelyn.

"We knew when we started, all those years ago, that sooner or later they would start to fight back.

"I just had expected that they'd have been smarter about covering their tracks, but this makes no sense: Rockwaller Industries has no basic connections to them, other than the two idiots now in charge."

"How bad, Wade, do you think it's gonna get?"

"Hopefully, not bad, love, but I'm worried: the projections don't look good, and I've run them half-a-dozen times each week for the last 2 years, and they keep trending worse in the long run. Short term, the trends are all over the map, but if you pull all of the data together, it's not good," he answered, and she looked even more worried that he felt.

"Are we talking about 'Retribution,' Wade?" she asked quietly.

"We planned for it, Jocelyn, even though we never wanted to use it," and Wade hit a combination and series of keys on the PossCom that he'd hoped he'd never use in his life.

The program that he activated:

- activated additional physical security plans for his families and their friends,

- transmitted key information to his NSA and GJ contacts and computers as well as the SecDef, including all of his projections and backups of the information that he collected in case something happened to him; he knew he didn't need to send to Claudia Rose, but he did it, anyway, just in case the information got lost in Washington somewhere; and

- activated **all** of the tracking chips that his friends had and knew about (and some of his enemies had and didn't know about) and fed the telemetry to the Command Center central databases.

Then, he did what he knew he needed to do:

He held his wife, and he silently prayed that Retribution would not now, nor would it ever, be necessary; he also steeled himself to execute **his** plan if it became necessary.

After all, he had decided years ago when he created the plan, Retribution was for Stephanie, her brothers and sisters, and all the Stephanies in the world.

-----

"OK, Wade, our one-minute pity party's over," Joss stated as she kissed him.

"Jocelyn?"

"Yes, love?"

"I think that we should send the kids to Montana. The ranch'll be safer than here, and the Command Center is hardened."

"Wade, what aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing, Jocelyn; I'd just feel better if we weren't worried about them if it goes down."

"You know that our son and daughter each have their own 'suits, don't you?"

"Yes, but they haven't finished all their training with them, and they're still young," and he heard himself say the last sentence, and he laughed hollowly.

"Well, they **are** lots younger than we were, but you know what I mean, Joss," and Wade wiped a tear from his eye.

"I'm worried about them, Sweet Tea."

"I know, my love, but you have to have the same faith that our parents had in us," she replied. "Besides," she grinned, "we didn't turn out too bad, now did we?"

"I **hate** it when you play that card," he grinned.

"OK, they can stay, but we'll need to let them know what's happening before it breaks.

"Don't you think they're smart enough to have figured out what's happening?" Jocelyn asked, and Wade dodged the question with another….

"Have you checked out your latest suit upgrades?"

"Shore 'nuf, pardner," she replied, and she chuckled as he groaned.

"I **love** having a husband who makes battlesuits," she added as she kissed him.

"Not as much as I **love** those personal fitting sessions, Sweet Tea," he smiled, and he went for Jocelyn-Goodness.

She didn't complain a bit; she never had, as he stood her up and reached down to remove her panties….

-----

"Wade?" Jocelyn came into the backup Command Center with her PossCom, and she looked devastated.

"They went after Mon and Felix, too, Wade," she told him, and he squeezed his hands into fists so tight that he drew blood.

"Are they all right," he was finally able to ask when he calmed down.

"They are, now. Felix has two broken arms and a deep chest wound, but he was lucky, and the chest wound isn't life-threatening. Mon only has a couple of cuts and bruises.

"The report states that Felix was trying to protect Monique in the car, but they pulled him out. They apparently didn't have current intel on Monique because **she** was the one who took out the three assassins."

"Good," and Wade visibly relaxed. "I'm sure glad that you and Kim trained Monique; I didn't want…" and his voice broke when he started the sentence, and he couldn't finish it.

"…to lose another 'big sister,' Wade?" and Joss came over and hugged him from behind in his chair, and he shook for a moment.

"Thank you, my love, for training her," he whispered; he was finally able to get the words out.

"Did you think I was going to let anything happen to my shopping fashionista, Wade? No way in hell," she grinned, thinking about the look on Wade's face after Joss and Mon came back from Joss' first shopping trip to Club Banana, then looked at his hands and winced.

"You'd better get some medicine on those cuts, Wade," she remarked.

"Can't you just kiss them and make them better?" he asked with a pout-ette, and she grinned.

"I could, but you might get sugar poisoning," and she backed up from the chair so he could get up.

"We'll have a request to activate 'Retribution' within the next six weeks, if not before; I'll try to delay it as long as I can, my love," he said sadly, and she held him and silently agreed.

-----

Rebecca Jane (RJ) Casey-Carlos was really pissed.

Not because they'd tried to kill Bonnie and her, although that was reason enough.

They'd **ruined** her new leather jacket, and she'd just picked it up that morning.

'Oh, well, I guess it doesn't matter too much; the new Kevlar micro-woven fibrous blend stopped both the bullets and the knives, even though it left the cuts in the surface material.

'But, weren't they surprised when their shots didn't kill me,' RJ thought as she removed the jacket and examined it one final time before sending it to GJ Post for an after-action analysis.

"Have you heard any more on the condition of Bonnie Rockwaller?" she asked the agent monitoring the wireless messaging from the hospital.

"She's out of surgery, and she's doing better," he replied, and he continued after she glared at him for more information..

"She's still in the ICU: the surgeons are worried about the severity of her injuries caused by the viciousness of the attack, and she woke up just long enough to confirm to our agents and the police what we already knew: it was RI employees that attacked her. The doctors expect that they'll move her out of the ICU and to a private room in three days.

"The doctors aren't sure about the injuries to her legs and lower back, and they're mixed in their opinions of her recovery.

"Bonnie still doesn't remember who was there, or who saved her life; she doesn't remember anything after the attack started.

"I'm heading over there in a few minutes to talk to her," Rebecca Jane told the agent. "She deserves to know more about what's happened to her and what's going on," she said to the air, and the agent nodded unconsciously and automatically sent the IM to have RJ's car brought around and readied for her to leave in a moment's notice.

Her PossCom gave off a single tone, and she didn't even have to look at the screen: distinctive tones were a wonderful thing and a pain in the ass when you knew who it was and couldn't avoid them. She visibly winced.

"The ED wants to talk to me," she told the agent.

"Where's the nearest shielded room?" and the agent pointed next door.

Rebecca Jane went next door, closed the door, ran one more scan for bugs, then plugged the PossCom into the GJ network, and her boss' face popped onto the screen.

"Executive Director," Rebecca Jane nodded, and the Executive Director snorted at her.

"RJ, please," Global Justice's Executive Director, Betty Director, nodded back. "It's still Betty to my favorite liaison," and she smiled with more than a hint of worry on her face.

"How bad, RJ?"

"I was just leaving to see Bonnie when you tone'd me, Betty.

"The last one hasn't given up anything," Rebecca Jane added as she gave a very feral grin, "but he hasn't met 'Mr. Sitdown' yet, either."

"I really wish you hadn't given him that codename, RJ," Betty replied, then grinned. "I can't get that picture from the kid's show out of my head when I hear his name."

"That's the reason, Betty: No one expects 'Mr. Sitdown,'" she grinned.

"Python, now, RJ?"

"'And now, for something completely different,' RJ dead-panned, and Betty whooped.

"I haven't heard that line in **years**, RJ."

"We'd better laugh, now. I talked to Wade two days ago, and his predictions are tracking ahead of GJ's for the perfect storm of 'Retribution.'"

"I'm so glad my hubby was smart enough to build this on, and as, a hardened site, RJ," Betty smiled, and a voice from behind her came out:

"Proper Planning, Elizabeth: I've told y'all that, and at least mah son-in-law listens to me," Slim Possible's voice came from the speaker behind Betty.

-----

"Felix?"

"mon?" his voice was weak, bur he opened one eye and saw his dream girl.

"**FELIX**!" and Monique Jenkins-Renton reflexively grabbed her husband, and he grunted.

"MON!

"Chest wounds, remember?" and she released him quickly, and he took a deep breath.

"sorry," she gave him the Monique-pout, and Felix smiled through his spouse-inflicted chest pain.

"I really wish that Kim hadn't taught you that," he smiled as Mon leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

"Ahh, but I'm sure glad you took her advice and went for Mon-shine, my darling," Monique replied, and their silence was broken by-

"DADDY!" and Felix grinned as he heard their twin daughters bursting into the room.

"I tried to stop them, son, but they wouldn't slow down," and Grandmother Dr. Renton came in after them, smiling as the girls pulled up as they saw Mom hold up the Stop-hand.

"Mom!" and she walked over to hug her bed-ridden son, her tears of relief flowing freely and priming Felix's tears, as well.

"Are you OK, son?"

"As long as you watch the arms, Mom, and only because Mon stopped them from killing me," and Mrs. Renton gasped as she realized what Felix said, and then motioned for Monique to come over.

Monique stepped over, and she was the recipient of a motherly hug of joy and gratitude and love.

"Thank you, Monique," she whispered, and Monique pulled back to look Mrs. Renton in the eyes.

"He's my husband, Roberta: nobody does what they did to him and lives," Monique smiled and growled, and Mrs. Renton pulled back, surprised.

"Kim and Jocelyn trained me in a few moves, and I learned some more things from my training with the Middleton PD and from Rebecca Jane with GJ: I just never thought I'd need to use it. When Felix threw himself in front of me in the car and kept me from crashing into the dash, and the airbag on our 4-month-old car wouldn't deploy, I knew that something was wrong, and I needed to be ready.

"They ignored me," Monique continued, both Felix and his mom staring at her, "relatively speaking, and I took care of them," she changed her language, remembering that their daughters were in the room.

"Mommy, did you kill them?" Kimberly Jane Renton asked, and Monique looked at her daughter in horror.

"Mommy, it's ok to kill when someone is trying to hurt you or trying to hurt someone you love," came out of the mouth of their six-year-old as she twirled her black curls, her nervous habit.

"Uncle Mike and Uncle Ron had to do it today, and they explained what they did to us after the police and the GeeJay men and women came and took away the bad people who came in," she announced excitedly, and her sister Melanie Keisha Renton vigorously nodded her agreement, her curly blond hair bouncing on her head.

"Roberta? What happened?" Monique asked her mother-in-law, and Roberta Renton nodded.

"KJ is right, Monique. Someone sent men and women into the school with Uzi-naZa's and grenades and suicide vests, and they intended to take and hold the entire school; they forgot, or didn't know, that Mike was on duty that day, and I'm certain that they didn't know or consider that Ron Stoppable would be there," Roberta Renton smiled, and Monique was glad that her mother-in-law loved her: she **never** wanted to see that look directed at her!

"What happened to you two, Mon? The hospital wouldn't tell me anything over the cell other than that you were here, so I went to the school for the girls and almost didn't get in: Ron saw me, and he signed the girls out under his responsibility; Mike countersigned, so they let me take them.

"Yea, Mon, I'd kinda like to know what my fashionista did," Felix grinned, and Monique buzzed for a nurse.

"Would you take the girls down for some milk?" Monique asked the nurse when he arrived, and as the nurse took the girls away, they were asking him all sorts of questions, and he was trying to answer them.

"After you covered me, my favorite love," and she kissed Felix, then backed up and sat back down next to the bed and Roberta, "they shot at you and missed, and then they shot out the tires and came around to each side to pull us out of the car. You were barely conscious and bleeding, and they punched you in the chest two times, hard, and then broke your arms while they held my head up so I could see what they were doing," and Roberta stared at Monique.

"I could hear each of your arms break, Felix," and Monique held back her tears. "They did it on purpose: she **told** me.

"So, I rolled the one holding me down and punched her out, then I grabbed her hair and banged her head into the street a couple of times quickly. I grabbed the gun away from her and shot her and the guy behind her as 'cause he was pulling a weapon from his back.

"Then, I looked up and saw the one that had hurt you coming around the front of the car, my love, and I shot him in the face three times, then I threw up on the ground and passed out.

"I woke up when the paramedics were working on my arm: I didn't even realize that I'd been cut until they were bandaging my arm, and IT HURT like a sonufabi," and Monique stopped, embarrassed, and her mother-in-law grinned at her.

"I told them to work on you first, but the lady grinned and told me that the other team had already taken you to the hospital, and then she gave me a shot and knocked me out.

"I woke up and saw you, love, and boy, was I scared! That's when I called your name, and you opened one eye.

"You don't know how scared I was, Felix: I thought they were going to kill you!" and then Monique broke down and cried, and Roberta held her as she sobbed.

Felix shouldn't have cried: his whole body ached when it started, but seeing his wife in that condition was more than he could take, especially since he couldn't hold her with two broken arms.

"Mon," he called, and Monique held up her head.

"He **was** going to kill me, but he was coming to shoot you, first, and then drag me over to watch you die. Then, he was going to kill me. He laughed as he told me this, then he heard gunfire and went around to find out what was happening.

"I guess he found out," Felix grinned, then laughed.

"You saved both of us, my 'fashionista with a 'tude,'" Felix joked, and winced as another twinge in his gut hit him as he laughed.

"Remind me to thank Kim and Jocelyn the next time I see them," Felix smiled, and Monique stared at him with Mon-ness, and he GULP'ED.

"Not like that!" Felix exclaimed, and Roberta started laughing, and was joined a moment later by Monique and Felix.

Felix looked at Monique while his mom stood up to stretch, and he mouthed 'Retribution?'

Monique nodded, and Felix's heart dropped while his smile remained as he said a quick prayer for all of them, but especially for Wade.

The nurse came back with their daughters, and they came over and tried to figure out how to hug Dad; they settled for kissing his cheeks until he was covered with 'daughter love', right next to the 'mother love' and 'wife-love' that he was getting and had received.

Monique had her 'game face' on, for her children and mother-in-law, and especially for her husband: the paramedic had told her, before she knocked her out, that Felix had coded twice, but they'd brought him back. "His heart is remarkably strong," she had stated, and Monique had nodded.

'I know his heart: I'd like to think it's strong because the girls and I are in there. He's such a wonderful man, and my H-BF: Thank you, for not taking him from me,' she thought as she hugged Roberta and her daughters, then lightly held Felix's hand as she silently hummed a thanks-prayer.

- - -

"You're going to have to feed me, you know," Felix said after a few moments of quiet except for the stereo beeping in the room.

"You think **you** get food?" Monique looked at him…and she grinned wickedly, and Felix pouted.

"No Bueno Nacho?" he whined, and she nodded.

"Oh, man…."

- - -

"Momma?" Jocelyn looked up to see both of her children standing in the door of her study.

"Come in," she waved her hand, and both children stepped into the room, but just barely.

Her son cleared his throat.

"Momma?"

"Yes, James?"

"I'm sorry I copped a 'tude with you and Daddy," James' words were sincere.

"Me, too, Momma," her daughter added, "I'm sorry, too, Momma."

"Did you apologize to your dad, Liz?" and she nodded.

"Yes, ma'am, and he sent us in here, but we were already coming to apologize to you," Elizabeth added.

"And, you, James?" Jocelyn quizzed her son, and he nodded.

"Yes, ma'am. I already apologized, and Daddy hugged us, Momma, and he cried!

"Momma, why does Daddy cry whenever we apologize for doing something wrong?"

Jocelyn took a deep breath, sighed, and stood up and went to the door, closing it.

"Sit down, you two," she smiled sadly. "I need to tell you about Stephanie."

"Are you talking about the same Stephanie in our God-blesses, the ones that Daddy taught us?" Elizabeth asked as she sat on the couch next to her brother.

"Yes, it's the same Stephanie," and Jocelyn placed a box of tissues on the table in front of them, and she started to tell them.

- - -

Thirty minutes later, Jocelyn was accompanied by two sobbing children and a mound of tissues.

"Momma, why? Why did her father beat her when she apologized?" Elizabeth cried out, and James took her and held his sister for several minutes before he spoke, again.

"Momma, I'm so sorry I ever did anything to make you mad," James said between tears, and he stood up. "I have to go apologize to Daddy for hurting him all those times," and he headed for the door.

"NO!" Jocelyn's voice was commanding, and James stopped dead in his tracks and turned around.

"Why, Momma?" He so wanted to go….

"Daddy doesn't want you to feel sorry for him, James, and he doesn't want an apology: think for a moment," and James thought, then figured it out and whacked himself on the forehead. "He just wants you to be yourself, to do the best that you can.

"The best thing that you could do for him is to not tell him but to show him that you're truly sorry, by your actions, not your words," Jocelyn said between her own tears.

"The way that you can honor your father and me and Stephanie is to do good, and never take anyone or their feelings for granted," Jocelyn said, and Wade took that time to open the door.

"Jocelyn," he started, and James and Elizabeth ran to him and hugged him, crying again.

"?" was Wade's response and Elizabeth spoke first after several minutes holding onto her father and crying.

"Daddy, we're sorry. We'll make you proud, and we'll never do those things, again," Elizabeth sobbed, and Wade looked at his daughter and smiled.

"She told you?"

"Uh-huh," Elizabeth said thru her tears, and Wade shed his tears for the lost innocence of his children.

"I had hoped you'd never hear that story, James, Elizabeth, but, in a way, I'm kinda glad you did," Wade responded to his kids.

"You've had the best life your Momma and I could give you, and you've had great family support from Grandpa Slim and Grandma Betty, and Grandpa Ryan and Grandma Rachel, and all of our friends," Wade told his children. "You've never experienced what my 'big sister' went through, and I will **never** do anything even remotely like that to you."

"DADDY!"

"You'd **never** do that to us!" James was shocked.

"And, now you know why, James: I love you, and I love your sister, and I love your mother, and I could never cause that kind of pain to any of you," Wade had more than the hint of tears on his face, and Jocelyn saw them.

"Daddy, we'll never disappoint you, ever, again," James promised, and Elizabeth nodded, and Wade shook his head.

"That's not true, James: you **will** disappoint me, but never think that I'll ever stop loving you or Elizabeth for it. That's the difference: I may not like what you do, but I'll never stop loving you.

"Now, go get changed so we can go out for dinner," Wade announced, and Elizabeth grew a wet grin.

"booyah's?' she asked, and when her mother nodded, she yelled "Catfish special!!" as she ran out of the room to change.

James took a look at his dad, smiled, and stuck out his hand. Wade shook it, and pulled him into a hug.

"I love you, son," Wade whispered.

"I love you, too, Daddy," he replied, and hugged his dad tightly, then let him go and looked at him, then put on his 'serious face,' and Wade chuckled.

"Dad, you don't always have to carry every bit of the 'Load' by yourself, you know," Wade and Jocelyn both groaned as James grinned. "Just because we're not adults doesn't mean we can't help. After all, we **are** Loads, Dad, and we're not idiots: we know a lot about what's happening," he added, and then he turned and left the room to go change.

"You did it to yourself, my love," Jocelyn grinned wickedly, and Wade braced himself.

"You've created more 'Loads' than you can carry by yourself, and you and I created the 'Loads' to hep' you carry all them 'Loads,'" Jocelyn smirked as Wade grimaced at each 'Loaded' pun and smiled as he mentally took in his son's words of encouragement and support..

"Have I told you, lately, that I love you, my wonderful husband Dr. Load?" Jocelyn stood and went to her husband, kissing him passionately as he responded to her with love. 'And such a good daddy, too,' she thought.

"I love you so much, Wade," she whispered into his left ear as he hugged her tightly.

"I love you, my Jocelyn," Wade responded, then pulled her head forward and kissed her with a hunger unfulfilled, and he reached for her completely, and she thought that she actually felt the last of his demons leave his body.

"Save it for dessert, lover," she grinned, and she felt him relax as he pulled back and kissed her nose.

"Promises, promises," he dead-panned, and she grabbed him low.

"Fact, my chocolate hero," she purred, and Wade smiled.

"We'd better go, I need to get back here real soon: I'm feeling a real urge for strawberry ice cream at home," Wade grinned as Jocelyn swatted at him as he left her study.

"booyah, indeed, my hero," Jocelyn whispered after Wade left the room.

'Stephanie: He's finally conquered the last demon. Thank you so much, for helping me help him,' she thought as she walked back to their bedroom to change shoes, and decided to change more than just the shoes.

'I hope he's ready to do what we have to do; no, that's not true. I know he's ready, I just hope it doesn't tear him apart,' she slipped off her flats and pants, went to the closet, and came back with a dark skirt and her current pair of cognac-colored tall boots. She'd lost count of the number of pairs that she'd worn out, and she smiled and got dressed.

'This'll take his mind off'n his problems,' Jocelyn grinned as she turned off the light and headed for their GJ drop chute.

- - -

chapter now complete….

- - - - - - -

**A/N Afterward:**

I know some of your questions:

What is 'Retribution?'

What does 'Retribution' have to do with Stephanie Watership?

What's happening that has Wade transferring backup files to the Secretary of Defense?

What's happened to Bonnie?

Who's running Rockwaller Industries?

Who's behind Rockwaller Industries that has Wade and everyone so worried?

How did Mike and Justine get together?

All will be answered….just not in the next two chapters.

Bonnie's attack flashback is next, and she gets to meet her protector, again, and a bit of info on 'Retribution,' coming up next, in chapter three of Partners, Again.

Mike and Justine tell their story over dinner, starting in chapter four…

Thanks again for reading. Please review: it makes my muse smile.


	3. Chapter 3: Mother didn’t care

Partners, Again

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the song referenced in this story and the music are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time).

This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

**A/N Forward: **

We've seen some of what's happening from Kim's and Justine's points of view, in chapter 1. We've seen what has happened from Wade/Joss', Rebecca Jane's, and Felix/Mon's points of view, in chapter 3. Now, from the point of view of Miss Bonnie Rockwaller….

Bonnie's attack flashback is next, and she meets her protector, again, and a bit of info on 'Retribution,' and a little insight into MMP, coming up next, in chapter three of Partners, Again.

Thanks in advance for reading, and please review.

- - - - - - -

**Chapter 3: Mother didn't care**

-----

Rebecca Jane Casey walked into the private room in Intensive Care.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

Bonnie Rockwaller lay still, and Rebecca Jane shuddered inside.

The tubes didn't bother her, the bandages wrapping her head and covering her face didn't concern her, and neither did the multiple machines hooked up to her. What worried her was what was going on inside of Bonnie's brain, and what would happen when she awakened.

They had brutally attacked her, and they knew what would bring her the most damage, cause her the most pain: emotional, physical, and psychological.

beep.

beep.

beep.

They had stabbed her in the spine repeatedly, and Rebecca Jane had not arrived soon enough to stop that.

But, they had slashed her face and tried to cut off her scalp. They weren't smart enough, but they had done enough damage and pulled enough skin to cause severe damage.

Her beautiful hair was all gone: the doctors had had to remove the last of it before they had taken her into surgery to save her life.

Two of them had ripped her blouse off, and they were slicing at her bra and waving knives under her breasts, drawing spurts of blood from skin-breaking cuts.

Two more were trying to cut her leg muscles, having cut through the skin and causing more blood to spill onto the grass and concrete

Rebecca Jane's UziNaza ended the conversations of the two on her legs rather abruptly with a single silenced shot each, and her knife skills had taken care of the other two 'problems' at her chest, leaving one alive and the rest sharing their blood with their intended victim.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

Her legs were now wrapped to protect them while the surgeon's work sealed and healed her wounds.

Her body was in a removable brace with an opening in the back so that the doctors could get to and drain the wounds to her back and spine.

Rebecca Jane remember thinking that she had never seen as much blood until then, then she had seen the wounds on Bonnie's back because they had her braced up on her side to hurt her even more. She thanked all that was blessed and sacred and holy in the world that she had not moved her with those possible spinal injuries.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

Rebecca Jane had been a friend to Bonnie since their meeting and time together at the ranch, years ago, because she had **been** Bonnie in her own life.

Rebecca Jane remembered how Bonnie had run away, crying, when Kim and Jocelyn had come out in their swimsuits. She had known that it would happen: it was the same response that she would have had, before she'd understood what was important.

She had stopped Bonnie, taken her to a room on the fourth level in the Command Center, sat her down, and told Bonnie what was important. Bonnie had sat there, stunned, especially when Rebecca Jane had shown her all of the far-too-fresh scars on her own body, and Rebecca Jane had told her how they came to be on her body, and that she had been Bonnie until she had learned.

Bonnie had been shocked, then saddened, then cried, and then finally broken completely down and sobbed while she told Rebecca Jane a lot of what she'd been through; what had happened, why she felt unloved, unworthy of anyone, and that she took it out on everyone, and Rebecca Jane had hugged her and told her that all that she'd been taught was a lie.

They had gone swimsuit shopping because Rebecca Jane had told her that 'a girl can't live without a sexy swimsuit that makes the guys drool,' and they talked all the way into town. Bonnie had morphed amazingly fast along the drive; she said it was because she wanted so bad to be out of hell that she'd do anything to get out: even beg and grovel, if need be.

She remembered all of the looks on Bonnie's face: when she came out of the dressing room in that swimsuit, when she saw herself in the mirror, when that manager had whistled approvingly at her in the swimsuit, and the unabashed glee on Bonnie's face when she was told that this whole day was on Rebecca Jane when they had gone to check out after getting the shoes and the wrap.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

"No one's been this nice to me in a long time, Rebecca Jane, and especially when they don't get anything out of it," Bonnie had said.

"But, I do get something out of it, Bonnie: I get to see you smile," and Rebecca Jane had smiled, and Bonnie had begun to transform even more with that single statement.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

"Bonnie, it's Rebecca Jane, from the ranch." She smiled, even though she wanted to kill all of the people who had arranged this attack.

Now, a bit faster:

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

"I've been here every day since you got hurt, checking up on you. The doctors say you're doing better, but they don't know why you won't wake up, Bonnie.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

"Bonnie, if you can hear me, try to open your eyes."

Now, a bit faster:

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

"I told them that you were being stubborn, that you were waiting for an invitation to get up. Well, here I am, GF, so it's about time you tried to wake up," she said, grinning and trying to keep from breaking down in tears.

beep.

beep.

There was eye movement behind the eyelids, and a lid tried to move but failed.

beep.

beep.

"You're in a hospital bed, Bonnie"

Now, faster:

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

"It's all right, Bonnie, you're safe. The bad guys are all gone. You're safe, Bonnie."

Now, slowing down and back to a steady beat:

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

"Good, good. You're gonna be fine, Bonnie. You're gonna be fine.

"I'm going out for a few minutes, but I'll be back, Bonnie; don't worry: I won't leave you."

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

And Rebecca Jane turned, walked out of the room, closed the door, grabbed an empty bedpan from a cart and threw up, retching several times. A nurse came running up to her, but Rebecca Jane waved him away, then finished and handed him the bedpan.

"I'm fine; just some bad kimchee and cabrito for lunch," she lied as the nurse looked at her with a doubtful and knowing look. He was tall, about 6 feet tall, red-headed, looked both trim and dressed comfortably in his scrubs, and his smile was platinum.

"Weren't ready for it, were you?" The nurse asked calmly as he set the bedpan on the cart and held out his arms, and Rebecca Jane let out a huge sob and fell into his arms, sobbing so hard that she almost knocked the nurse over with her shaking.

"We're never ready for that kind of brutality, especially to one as beautiful as Bonnie," the nurse said as Rebecca Jane cried, and she vowed to find out what had happened, who had planned this, and kill them herself with her bare hands.

"How do you deal with it, everyday?" Rebecca Jane asked as she pulled back after releasing her anger into his shoulders. His shoulders were soggy, but he didn't notice the dampness.

"It's hard: I sometimes wonder if I should have ever chosen this as a career. But, the other day, when they brought Bonnie in, I knew why I was here: I was here to take care of here and treat her as she should be treated: like the queen that she became, not the Queen B that she was, in high school."

"You **knew** her in high school?" Rebecca Jane took the tissue that he offered.

"Oh, most **definitely**, but I was so low that the leftovers from the "food chain" didn't even reach me: I was even considered lower that Ron Stoppable," he replied, and grinned, and Rebecca Jane smiled, also.

"You **did** know her, didn't you?"

"Oh, yes, and I especially remember when she came up to me the first day of our senior year and hugged me and asked me to forgive her for how she treated me. Bonnie, asking me to forgive her? I thought that there was an extra synthodrone loose," and Rebecca Jane laughed with him.

"When I told her that I forgave her, that she could never do anything to me that would ever make me not forgive her, she smiled so big, and then she hugged me right in front or Barkin, and then she KISSED ME, right in front of Barkin! I got three weeks of extra homework for PDA, but I didn't care: I got tongue, and I was higher than a kite for days after that," and Rebecca Jane laughed at that comment.

"I'd see her in the halls, and she spoke to me all year, but I never saw her in person again until the day they brought her in.

"The paramedics told me that you were with her when they picked her up, and that you had stabilized her. The doctors said that, if you had not stabilized her in the field as quickly as you had, a delay of a few more minutes would have meant that we wouldn't be standing here talking about her. Thank you," and he extended his hand.

"I'm Rebecca Jane Casey-Carlos, on detached duty from Global Justice," she took his hand and shook it.

"I'm Ron Reger, RN, and the head nurse in the Critical Care wing: that's what we also call Intensive Care. Don't worry, Bonnie will get the best care I and my team can give," and he smiled. "I give you my word, on a plate of grande Nacos, extra cheese," and they both laughed.

"If I'm not here, call me the moment she wakes up, Ron, and thank you," and she kissed his cheek, "for understanding and being there for her," she added, then turned and went back into the room, Ron blushing after the kiss from what was, quite obviously, a strikingly beautiful woman.

-----

Rebecca Jane walked back in, and she saw the brain-wave monitor showed activity.

"Good, your brain is working. If you can hear me, just listen," and Rebecca Jane started telling her about the latest book that she'd been reading.

-----

Bonnie thought she was having a nightmare from which she couldn't wake.

She had walked out of the office building after finishing an interview, and her cameraman had left early after getting all of the shots online. She had stayed to get some background material and some off-the-record information. She had just turned into the parking lot when someone bumped into her, and she had dropped her notepad.

"Excuse me," the person had said, and she turned to receive the punch in her face and immediately afterwards, her stomach. The punch knocked the wind out of her, and she couldn't scream.

She was pissed at herself: she knew better, from her training, and she'd been suckered.

The second and third punch in the stomach took her to her knees, and she saw the huge blade and felt it across her head.

She screamed as he pulled the cut portion off of her head and held it in front of her, and it was her hair and part of her head, blood dripping from the scalp.

He slapped her, several times.

"Don't pass out on me, 'Queen Bonnie:' we've got more fun for you to experience," and four more men stepped in front of her.

They stood her up, and she screamed as she felt the searing pain of a knife run across her back just above her panty line, then she didn't feel anything but numb pushes as they stabbed her back repeatedly.

One of them slashed at her calves, and she screamed again and buckled under the pain, but two of the men held her up so she wouldn't fall.

"No more dancing for you, my Swan," and Bonnie knew that it was her sisters that had sent these men: no one else had ever called her 'my swan," with that much venom: even Kim, when they were fighting, had never used that phrase.

Then, one of them stood in front of her with a surgical blade, and grinned.

"Let's see if they put you back on the air after we're finished with you," and he slashed at her face, repeatedly, and after the first slash, all of the pain had overcome her and she had passed out, her eyes rolling back in her head.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard gunfire, and she fell to the ground.

She thought she heard a voice she knew call her name: "BONNIE! BONNIE! STAY WITH ME, BONNIE!"

Then, she didn't remember anything else until she heard 'Bonnie: it's Rebecca Jane, from the ranch.'

She remembered the ranch and Rebecca Jane: the first person in her life that had told her that she was somebody that deserved real love, not the multiple one-night stands that she'd had her junior year.

Then, she felt a searing pain in her back, and she screamed and her eyes snapped open.

-----

Rebecca Jane was telling her about this book on holistic gardening when Bonnie screamed and her eyes flew open. Rebecca Jane yelled: "NURSE!", but Ron was coming in the door as she yelled, with a doctor on his heels.

The beeps were running through the room, not walking like they had been before she screamed.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

He checked her vitals, and the doctor checked her morphine drip. He changed the setting, and turned to Ron.

Bonnie was still screaming in pulses, but the pulses were slowing down, and she began to realize it, and she willed herself to calm, and the pain was decreasing as the morphine took effect.

"Nurse, she will be on a high drip, but I don't want to put it under her control for a few days. Have the team monitor it, and call me if anything even looks wrong."

"Yes, Doctor," and the doctor nodded at Rebecca Jane and left the room.

The beeps slowed to a walking pace, again.

beep.

beep.

beep.

beep.

Bonnie looked around, her vision finally clearing from the reduced pain, and she recognized the two people in the room.

"Ron…Reger?"

"That's right, Bonnie. It's Ron Reger from MHS.

"I'm your critical care nurse, beautiful. I know it's not professional to call a patient beautiful, but I've always wanted to say that to you," and he kept his professional smile while wept inside for her and her pain,

"Re…becca…Jane? You're here?"

"Yes, I am, Bonnie: I've been telling you about my gardening adventures: I guess they finally got to you, because you screamed and woke up," Rebecca Jane laughed, and Bonnie smiled.

"You've…been here…a bunch of times…haven't…you?"

"Yes. Bonnie, I have. You're what important, remember?" and Bonnie smiled, and the smile didn't threaten to break her face. It was a natural smile, a beautiful smile, even amid the bandages, Rebecca Jane thought, and her heart broke as she realized that she was going to have to tell her, and soon.

"Rebecca Jane…a bunch…of men…they hurt me…hurt me…bad…I cried…I hurrrtttt…and…they kept…hurting me…and I passed out…but you came…didn't you…and stopped them?" she was taking breaths every few words as if to inflate her lungs.

"Yes, Bonnie, I stopped them." HOW DID SHE KNOW?

"I saw…you…in my…mind…Rebecca Jane…with your…gun…you're…a good…shot…and one…is still…alive?"

"Yes: he's in custody at a GJ holding facility now."

"How…bad…am…I…Rebecca Jane? I…don't care…about the face…or the head…did he…take away…my ballet…please tell…me…Rebecca…Jane?" and she slumped deeper into the bed, exhausted from talking.

"The doctors don't know yet, Bonnie, but it looks good to me. I've been touching your feet while you were asleep, and there was movement."

"Foot…fetish…Rebecca Jane? So…not…like…you…my friend," and Bonnie grinned, and Rebecca Jane laughed.

"Oh, yeah, she's gonna be fine," Ron smiled. "If she can make jokes, she's gonna be fine."

"Ron…thank you…for caring…when you…came in…and prayed…for me….

"I heard…everything…somehow…He….tapped…into….your words…sent them…to me…."

"Everything, Bonnie?" Ron looked worried, and Bonnie smiled.

"Everything…my friend…we'll…talk…later….Ron," and she smiled as he bolted from the room.

"He told…God…to watch …over me…and take…his life…for mine…because…he…loved me," Bonnie said, and Rebecca Jane smiled, "and he… didn't…want to…live…if…I…wasn't…here.

"I…never…knew…he…cared…Rebecca Jane," and a tear ran down her face and into the bandages covering everything but her eyes, nose, and mouth.

"You have a lot of friends, Bonnie, even the ones that haven't seen you in that swimsuit," Rebecca Jane smiled.

"I…know…my friend…that's why…you're here….isn't it?"

"I know what's important, Bonnie, and you are one of the important people in my life; well, next to my husband," and she grinned as Bonnie laughed for a short burst, then yawned.

"I'll come back later, and we'll talk after you've had some rest, Bonnie. You've done real good talking this much."

"Hurry...back…my friend…I need…help…with…Ron…I've…never…had…someone…love me…like that….Mother...didn't care…and neither…did my…sisters…."

"I'll be back: I promise, my friend," and Rebecca Jane left the room as Bonnie yawned and fell asleep immediately.

-----

She found Ron sitting on a couch down the hall with his head in his hands.

"How long?" and he raised his head, revealing his tear-streaked face.

"Since I first met her in Jr. High, I've always been in love with her, but I wasn't good enough for her.

"I'm not good enough for her, now: I'm not a doctor, I'm just a nurse, she deserves so much better than me," and he sobbed into his hands.

Nurses and doctors walked by, but none of then bothered Ron and Rebecca Jane as she sat next to him and put her arm around him.

"Right now, you're looking pretty good to her: no one's ever offered to die for her, before, other than Kim and Ron, the US Military, and Global Justice," and Ron looked up and laughed through his tears.

Ron looked at Rebecca, thinking. "You've got a point there; but, I can't compromise her care if I'm her nurse, no matter how much I love her."

"Then, assign her to someone else: you did say that you were in charge, didn't you?" Rebecca Jane smiled, and she thumped his head, and the light bulb went on.

"I can do that," he said after some thought. "Then, everything would be ethical."

"Wow: ethics in medicine: who knew?" and they both laughed.

"She's asleep now, but her dreams just got a whole lot better, I'll bet," Rebecca Jane added, and Ron smiled.

"I'll bet they've been nothing like mine," he grinned, and Rebecca Jane blushed.

"What? I remember that cheerleader skirt…oh, man, and those splits," he smiled as he remembered the splits, and Rebecca Jane laughed with him, not at him.

"Rebecca Jane, is it wrong for me, as a nurse, to want to kill the people who did this to her?" Ron asked, and Rebecca remembered how 'Retribution' had been born, and she shuddered, inside.

"Call me, or beep me, when she wakes up, ok, Ron?" and she stood up, holding out her hand. He took it, and she drew him into a tight hug that reminded him of why he wanted Bonnie and how long he'd been alone.

"Sure thing," he said when the separated, him with the blush showing below his red hair.

"Bye, Ron," and she decided to have a little fun and make some doctors jealous; she kissed him on the cheek, again. This brought about an immediate response from Ron: more red in the face.

"Call me, ok?" she called out in her most vixen voice as she walked away, and every doctor and nurse stared at Ron in total envy as Rebecca Jane's heels clicked down the hall, and they all followed her legs and rear into the elevator.

The elevator door closed, and Rebecca Jane faced the rear of the elevator and broke down in waves of sobs.

When the door opened, she was facing the door, her face was dry, and she was pulling out her PosComm and punching in Ron Stoppable.

"Ron? Rebecca Jane. I have no right to ask, but I'm going to anyway," and she asked the deepest favor that she could ask of anyone.

-----

Ron hung up, and called Kim on his Kimmunicator.

"KP!

"It's your Ron-meister, here, honeybuns."

Silence.

"Because I can, and because you can't reach me right now, that's why.

"I called you for a reason: BonBon's awake!"

Silence

"Yes, but Rebecca Jane just called."

Silence.

"You'll never guess who her Bonnie's RN is, KP: Ron Reger!"

Silence, then a laugh from Ron.

"Yes, he still does, but he hasn't told her, yet."

Silence.

"I can help," Ron said quietly.

Silence.

"It'll cost me; it'll cost us, KP. I have to ask you: are you willing to let me do it?"

Silence, then a laugh from Ron.

"Of course I had to ask, KP. You are my wife and my life, and I couldn't ever hurt you by not asking unless it was a real emergency, so I had to ask. Remember, we had a deal: you don't cook on the Ron-man's bon-diggity outdoor grill, and I don't do that without asking!"

Silence.

"I don't know: it depends on the extent of her injuries; it could be 3-5 days, tops, but it could be more: it could even be a month."

Silence.

"I knew there was a reason that I loved you besides your bon-diggity kissing and the kids."

Silence, then Ron winced.

"Hurtful words, KP, hurtful words!" and he laughed.

Silence.

"I'll go to the hospital with Rebecca Jane before visiting hours are over on Saturday night. You coming, too?"

Silence, then a big grin took over Ron's face.

"Ah, BOO-YAH! indeed, my KP! See you at home, my forever." And he disconnected.

'Can I do it?' and

'Will she accept my offer?' were the two questions that occupied Ron's mind for the rest of the day while he completed the next season's menus for **_boo-yah's._**

-----

"Bonnie, are you awake?" Rebecca called from the door: she couldn't see her for the florist shop that appeared to have been transplanted into Bonnie's room

"No, I'm asleep," Bonnie replied, rather sarcastically, but with a smile on the edge. "Please leave a message at the tone:

"BEEP

"BEEP

"BEEP

"Thank you for playing. CLICK!"

"Somebody's feeling frisky, isn't she?" Rebecca Jane came into the garden with a hospital bed embedded.

"I can't believe it!" Bonnie gushed. "All of this, for me!"

"Your fans love you, Bonnie, and the station has been swamped with calls wishing you well and offering to donate blood and to pray for you, Bonnie." Rebecca Jane told her as she sat down next to the bed, and Bonnie looked embarrassed at the riches that she was receiving, but her smile was huge when she pointed..

"I especially like these," and she pointed to the vase overflowing with white and red roses, what was easily three dozen brilliantly-colored flowers.

"Ron sent them, and he sent a card that made the nurses come in to check my blood pressure!

"I never even suspected that he liked me like that," she added.

"Like what? You mean with the guacamole dip and the salsa and the-"

"Rebecca Jane! You read my card!" and Bonnie grinned.

"Yea, like that," she said, dreamily.

"Girl, if you don't snatch him up-" and Bonnie broke out laughing, and Rebecca Jane replayed her statement, and she blushed a deep red.

"You know what I mean, Bonnie!"

"Rebecca Jane?"

"Yes, Bonnie?"

"Ron brought me a mirror when I asked, but before he would hand it to me, he told me that, no matter what happened to me, he would always love me and stand by me. Then, he held the mirror so I could see what they'd done," and by now both women were in tears, "and he stayed with me the rest of the day and the whole night while I cried, holding my hand and handing me tissues, and he stayed even after I went to sleep."

"Rebecca Jane, what did I ever do to deserve a man like this?" she sobbed, and Rebecca Jane took her hand.

"You slipped him tongue that first day of senior year, Bonnie," she dead-panned, and Bonnie looked at her in shock, then a small smile invaded her face, then a big grin, then she burst into laughter that was so contagious, Rebecca Jane caught it and started laughing, as well.

"Damn, I didn't know I was **that** good," Bonnie commented after they calmed down, and they laughed, again.

"And, these were from Wade and Jocelyn, and these were from Kim and Ron," and Bonnie went on, identifying all of the sources of the flowers and smiling through her pain.

-----

When she finally took a break, Rebecca Jane delivered the news.

"Bonnie, your attackers worked for RI," she stated and waited for the explosion.

It didn't come.

"Hell, Rebecca Jane, that's old news: I saw the Meezod shirts with the company logos on them, and I hired two of those guys myself when I was there before my mother and sisters stole the company away from me," and she was calm, but her eyes flashed anger for a second when she mentioned her sisters and mother, then she calmed down.

"Rebecca Jane: what's 'Retribution?'" and this time, Rebecca Jane was truly surprised.

"One of the men said that this was a warning to never execute 'Retribution.' What was he talking about? I've never found more than a mention of the name in all of my research for the past four years, Rebecca Jane."

She took a deep breath, then looked Bonnie in the eyes.

"Bonnie, all I can tell you is that this plan, if it existed, could only be executed because it's already been approved by the UN and the governments of all of the major powers and most of the second-tier countries, as well. I promise you that I'll make certain that you get the details and a special peek 'behind the scenes' if and when it happens, OK?"

"I've trusted you this far, I'll trust you a bit longer," was Bonnie's response.

"But, do you trust us?" and Ron and Kim Stoppable stood in the doorway with Ron Reger.

"Don't know about you, Stoppable, but I'll trust both the redheads, especially that real cute hunk of male nurse next to you," Bonnie grinned and held out her arms, and Ron came over and hugged her loosely.

"HEY! Don't dis the Ron-man?" Kim joked, and she walked over and hugged Bonnie herself.

"Hello, Kim," Bonnie looked perplexed. "Why are all of you here?"

"I'm here to help you, Bonnie, if you'll accept it, and they're here to help me help you," Ron replied with a smile.

"What is this, an intervention? 'Save the victim?'"

"Something like that, but different," and Bonnie noticed for the first time that Ron Stoppable was glowing blue!

"What have you been taking, Ron? Have you been in the little blue pill bottle?" and both Kim and Ron blushed, and Rebecca Jane and Bonnie and Ron Reger all laughed.

"It's a long story, Bonnie, and you'll need your faith to let me help you," and Ron began to remove his belt.

"Stripping? Sorry, Ron, but I'm a one-Ron woman," and she grinned as he removed his belt and his suspenders held his pants up.

"I know, and I'm so happy for you, Bonnie, but this is different." And Ron's belt morphed in his hands into a sword and scabbard.

"Easier than checking it through airport security," Ron added as he walked over to a now-totally-shocked Bonnie Rockwaller.

"Bonnie, you remember the junior year exchange program, and Hirotaka?"

"Of course," she smiled, remembering that gorgeous hunk of Asian manhood.

"Well, I went to Japan, and I started my training in use of the power that I had obtained by accident, I thought, on one of our missions.

"It turned out that I was the true and rightful owner of 'Mystical Monkey Power,' and I've been training and learning about it ever since. This is the Lotus Blade, the source of the power."

"That is not correct, Master," the sword replied, and Bonnie and Ron and Rebecca Jane all looked shocked. "You are the source; we are the lens through which you focus."

"I've learned one thing, Bonnie," Ron went on as if a talking sword was normal, "I can help you heal, Bonnie, but you have to be willing to accept the Gift of the Blade," and Bonnie shuddered at the thought of another blade near her.

"Of course," then she thought for a second.

"Wait, you wouldn't be asking me if there wasn't a catch somewhere, would you?"

"Wise you are, Bonnie," and Bonnie giggled in spite of herself: she loved that movie. "You would receive some of my life energy that has been transformed by the MMP, and it would speed up your healing significantly as well as mend your scars to the point that they are almost not noticeable."

"Wait, Ron: your life energy? Don't you need that, like, to live?"

"Yes, I do, but you wouldn't take it all: just enough to help you get better."

"Why are you doing this for me, Ron?" and she started to cry. "Why would you give me some of your energy?" and Ron Reger held her hand while she cried.

"Why shouldn't I, Bonnie? It's no different than a transplant, or a blood donation, it's just energy."

"Kim: you're ok with this?"

"Bonnie, we buried the hatchet so many years ago, and you've been a friend to Wade and Jocelyn and Rebecca Jane: that's all I need to know," Kim took Ron's hand in hers. "And, my husband offered to do this for you, but only if I agreed to it," and she smiled thru her tears, "and I said yes," and Bonnie felt a peace, a love, that she'd never felt in her entire life.

"My sisters would never have done this for me; hell, my own mother would never have done this for me. Mother didn't care: she would just put on a good act for the Parents' Associations," Bonnie said to no one in particular, then she turned back to Ron: she had to ask, she had to know, what he was willing to do for her, and the thought of that information frightened her to her very core being.

"How much would this cost you, Ron?"

"One month accelerated is two months donated, one month corrected is four months donated," came from the air surrounding the sword, and Bonnie stared at Ron Stoppable in horror.

Ron looked at Kim: she was trying to hide her fear, her sadness, her worry for their children, because she knew she would, in the end, say yes, even if it cost her husband six months of his life.

'I've had so much of him so far, and I love him so much, I know what he'll ask me, and he's worth the loss, for anyone. I love him so much that I'll let him give some of himself away. He's stood by me all these years: this is the least I can do for him,' all ran thru her mind as he stared at her with the 'Ron Stoppable sad face,' and she tried not to laugh and cry at the same time.

"Well, I guess you got it from the blade's mouth," Ron laughed, and the only sounds in the room were those of the machines monitoring Bonnie's condition.

"Ron, can I give to you or Bonnie?" Rebecca Jane asked, and Bonnie in an instant understood what true friendship was, and Rebecca Jane wept silently as Ron shook his head 'no.'

"Can I give to Bonnie, Ron, or to you, to replenish your energy?" Ron Reger asked Ron Stoppable, and Ron Stoppable shook his head 'no,' once more. Bonnie looked at her Ron, finally realizing just how much he had loved her for all these years, and she was ashamed that she had ignored him.

'No more, Rockwaller: he's a keeper!' she thought.

"Told you, Kim: he's a keeper," and Kim smiled at Rebecca Jane's comment.

"Bonnie, if you don't keep him, someone else will take him," Kim added, and Bonnie smiled. "Don't make the same mistake I almost did with my Ron," and then Bonnie looked at Ron and saw the goofy smile that she had ridiculed for most of high school, and she was ashamed of herself and her actions, and she started to cry, again.

"Ron," Bonnie said thru her tears, "as much as I want to say yes, as much as I want to walk, to dance again, I can't do this to you, to Kim, to your children. The way I treated you through most of high school: I can't take six months of your life from you, just like that. It's sooo not fair to you, to Kim, to your kids!" and she cried even more.

"Bonnie, 'fair is what you take a pig to, in the fall, so you can sell it,'" Kim quipped, and Bonnie couldn't help but laugh thru her tears.

"What would you know about a fair, Little Miss 'grew up in the suburbs' Possible?"

"Uncle and aunt and cousin on a ranch, Bonnie: D'oi!" and she grinned.

Ron put both of her hands on the Lotus Blade, "Bonnie, this is a gift, with no strings attached. Please, take it," and waited for her answer.

Bonnie thought, and decided to ask the one question in her mind.

"Can I get enough to walk?" Bonnie asked.

"Accelerated healing of back and legs is five days donated," came from the air.

"Ron: May I have five days of your life?" Bonnie asked, tears welling in her eyes, again. "I don't care how I look, and I can always wear wigs," she quipped, and both Ron's hearts broke with the gift that she was refusing, and they both understood this woman in their lives, one for the first time in a long time, the other for the first time in this light.

"But, Ron, I don't think I could live, would want to live, without walking, without my dancing. When I'm better, yours is the first name on my dance card for the rest of my life," and Kim smiled through her tears, and Ron did, also, as did Bonnie.

"Ron, you were willing to give me six months of your life. I know I have no right to ask, but I will, anyway:

"May I, Ron Stoppable, have five days of your live so I may walk and dance, again?" and Ron Stoppable, the former loser, smiled at Bonnie Rockwaller, the former Queen B, and said one word:

-----

"Yes."

And their smiles, his and hers, grew until they seemed to fill the room.

"Yes, you may, Bonnie," and the sword glowed with a deep blue color, and the lights in the room all went dark except for the glow from the blade. Ron grabbed the sword and scabbard even tighter and held both of their hands on it.

The sword glowed blue for several minutes, and Ron glowed the same blue color, and, for a time, Bonnie glowed blue, as well.

Ron shook visibly, as if force was pulling the energy from him, and he screamed for several minutes as the blade shook with the force of the energy transfer.

No one came to see what was happening, and Kim realized that she could not hear Bonnie's monitoring equipment. She looked at the EEG, and it had paused mid-wave. The EKG monitor had done the same.

Finally, the sword returned to its normal color, and Ron looked tired and concerned.

'This took too long,' he thought, and he asked: "What was done?"

"The accelerated healing has begun: she will be healed, completely," said the voice, and Bonnie screamed:

"**NOOO! TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK! **

"**I CAN'T TAKE THAT MUCH FROM HIM!"** and she railed at the voice, tears flying as she shook her head 'no.'

"It is done and cannot be reversed," said the voice, and Bonnie wept eve harder. Ron Reger took her into his arms and held her as she wept for what had been taken, from Ron Stoppable, and placed in her, for her, so freely.

When she could finally control herself, she had to ask:

"How…much…Ron?"

"One day was donated, Miss Rockwaller," and every one turned and faced the voice in the air in shock.

"You…said…six months," Bonnie stammered.

"That was correct," the voice replied.

"We have never experienced this before, Miss Rockwaller: you have been offered more love, freely and without question or consideration of the cost, than we have witnessed since our creation. More love has been given to you freely than we have ever experienced.

"Special circumstances demand special consideration. We have decided that this event warrants special consideration; therefore, your fully accelerated recover shall cost the Master only one day of his life," and the voice seemed to move and stop in front of Bonnie.

"Thank you for restoring our faith in your species. You are, indeed, worthy of this gift, Miss Rockwaller," and Bonnie burst into tears as the voice seemed to move in front of Ron Stoppable.

"Thank you, Master, for allowing us to witness this event," and then, the voice settled, in front of Rebecca Jane.

"Thank you, Ms. Casey-Carlos, for your love and life force that you were willing to give so freely," and, finally, it stopped in front of Ron Reger.

"And, thank you, Master Reger, for your offer of love to someone that treated you so poorly for so long. Yours is a special love for Miss Rockwaller: do not lose or misplace it."

"I won't," Ron replied, and Bonnie felt a twinge in her heart.

Then, the voice seemed to have moved back to the center of the room:

"Do not speak of this.

"Be well.

"We are finished," and the voice grew silent, and the lights that had disappeared snapped back on.

The only sounds now in the room were the monitoring equipment and Bonnie's tears.

Even the tears slowed to a snore, as Bonnie fell asleep almost immediately, even with everyone in her room and the lights on. Ron and Kim both noticed that Bonnie gave off an almost–invisible blue glow, and that she was not as deep in her bed as she had been when they came in earlier.

Ron Reger placed Bonnie's hands gently to her side, stood up, and grabbed Ron Stoppable in a hug that he, Ron Reger, didn't care how it looked to anyone else.

"How can I ever repay you?" Ron finally asked when he came up for air, tears fighting for ownership of his face.

"No writing in mystery meat gravy," Ron Stoppable said, and Ron thought for a moment and finally remembered the scene, and he started laughing.

"And, no meat cakes."

"RON!"

"Ron, if you love her 1/100th as much as I love Kim, she'll get a million times the love she's ever received and she'll return it to you one-hundred-fold.

"Just love her: that's all I ask, as much as I love KP," and Ron Stoppable took his wife's hand and smiled.

"I already do, Ron, and thank you," and Ron nodded his head as he smiled back.

"It was my pleasure, Ron," and they grinned as the two Rons shook hands for the first time ever, and Ron Reger leaned over and kissed Kim on the cheek.

"Thank you for offering your husband, Kim.

"And, before you say it: yes, it was a Big, Kim: you gave her hope, and you gave us a new life." Ron Reger added.

"Don't forget, and don't ever take her for granted, Ron," and Ron and Kim left the room, holding hands, with Ron Stoppable saying, as the door closed, "I don't know why meat cakes still vex me so, Kim."

-----

Ron and Rebecca Jane were in the room with a snoring Bonnie Rockwaller.

Ron grinned, chuckled, and then started laughing out loud. He didn't wake Bonnie; she continued to snore in rhythm.

Rebecca Jane wondered if he had hit his head sometime in the past four days.

"How am I going to explain this to the doctor, Rebecca Jane?

"'Doctor, the man with the sword and the mystical monkey powers healed her where you couldn't?'"

Then, Ron did something he had never done before: He took Rebecca Jane's hands and kissed each of them.

"Thank you, deal lady, for saving my Bonnie," he smiled, and a tear came down from his right eye and landed on his right cheek.

"You did it, Ron: you gave me the idea when we talked, because you could see the good in her, even before I ever knew her.

"Love her, Ron Reger: she, more than almost anyone I know, deserves happiness in her life," and Rebecca Jane kissed Ron on his right cheek, capturing his tear and taking it away, and she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Ron alone with Bonnie and her flower shop.

Ron went to the chair beside the bed, pulled it even closer, sat, took Bonnie's hand in his, leaned over, and kissed it tenderly.

"I love you, Miss Rockwaller, and I cannot wait until you and I can be together, forever, my Bonnie," and he started to sing a song that he had always associated with his Bonnie:

"'Dream with me, and see, with angel's eyes,

"A place where we can fly away;

"Fly with me, upon that glorious cloud,

"Into that moonlit sky,

"We will fly, together, forevermore…" and Ron fell asleep, still holding her hand, and their snores complemented each other.

-----

Bonnie was on the front row of her favorite star's concert, and she was screaming along with all of the other ladies because they all knew:

Ronald Reger was H-O-T HOT, and his music would melt your heart!

After his last song, he quieted the screaming throng with a raised hand.

"There's a very special lady down here in the front row, and I'd like for her to be escorted up to the stage," and Bonnie felt a tap on her shoulder, and one of the security guards was smiling and pointing to the stairs to the stage.

Bonnie took the 12 steps onto the stage where Ron Reger stood in his world-famous outfit, complete with the famous dark-blue cape, and she almost swooned when he touched her hand.

"Ladies, I'm sorry, but this is the lady who my songs have all been about," and Bonnie was honestly surprised, and several ladies cried.

"She has been my inspiration for all of my love songs, and I would like to perform a special one, just for her," and Ron dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring box, opening it and showing the contents to Bonnie alone.

"Bonnie Rockwaller, will you marry me and fly together with me, forevermore?" and she gasped, grinned, nodded yes, and yelled **"YES, YOU FOOL, YES!" **as he slipped the ring on her finger as the crowd roared its approval.

Ron stood, and they kissed a passionate kiss that left the audience cheering for 15 minutes.

When they separated, Ron cued the band, and they began her song, and he began to sing , holding her hand:

"'Dream with me, and see, with angel's eyes…."

-----

And, for 15 minutes, the two of them, Bonnie Rockwaller and Ron Reger, remained in the room asleep, and, if one knew where to look, one could see the dark blue line connecting the two of them, lonely no more and they each glowed a light blue.

-----

chapter now complete….

-----

**A/N Afterward:**

How did Mike and Justine get together?

Mike and Justine tell their story over dinner: the story after "My 'Gal'etea" and before "Training Tables, and Champions," and before chapter 1 of "Partners, Again," coming up next, in chapter four of "Partners, Again" (see, it really does all fit together!).

It's not a cornucopia of disturbing stories….

For all of you Jade fans:

Thanks for your support all last year, and thanks, especially, for your votes in the Fannies this year. I promise to deliver more excitement, more angst, more fun, more laughs, more angst (I like angst!), and more romance to you this year.

Thanks again for reading, and please review.

-----

Enjoy Kim Possible fan fiction? Of course you do. Looking for a way to pay tribute to your favorite authors and stories? Cast your ballot for your favorites in the Second Annual Fannie Awards: browse on over to the web site: **intbike dot com slash fannie2 dot html **for details, or visit **Zaratan**'s profile. Vote for your favorites! Voting ends January 31, so vote today!

-----


	4. Chapter 4: Gotcha!

Partners, Again

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….).

This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

Read and Review, and Enjoy!

-----

How did Mike Cotton and Justine Flanner end up as husband and wife?

Mike and Justine tell their story over dinner: the story after "My 'Gal'etea" and before "Training Tables, and Champions," and before chapter 1 of "Partners, Again," coming up next, in chapter four of "Partners, Again".

This is not a cornucopia of disturbing events and stories….

-----

Chapter 4: Gotcha!

-----

The limousine rides home were quiet, even with the kids in both of them.

'Thank goodness for DVD players and wireless headsets,' was the same thought from both Kim Stoppable and Justine Cotton, and the both grinned.

The cars turned up the hill, and then pulled into the driveway and headed down the long, winding road to the underground parking beneath the house. The vehicles made three turns and pulled into the assigned slots next to the passenger elevators, and they stopped and became silent.

Jason and Stephen each exited their vehicles and opened the doors of their respective charges. The silence was broken by the opening of the doors and the mass exodus of the eight children, four each from the two limousines, and the yelling as they all headed for the elevator doors, punching both sets of buttons.

The two gentlemen went to the other side of the vehicles and opened those doors, and the four adults exited two by two, all taking large, deep breaths, and the two drivers grinned, again.

"Will you be needing us tonight, Ms- I mean, Kim?"

"No, Jason, except to join us for dinner."

"But, ma'am, I-"

"It's trout."

"We'll be up shortly," they both replied.

"Jinx! You owe me a soda!" came from Mike.

"Oh, man, not again," Stephen mumbled as he and Jason got back into Jason's limousine amidst the laughter and headed out for Mike's favorite root beer stand and a freshly-chilled keg.

"You, know, Justine, in all the years we've known each other, I've never heard the story about what happened to you after you left the ranch that summer and returned from Stockholm," was Kim's comment as they stepped into the elevator, and the door closed.

Mike blushed as the elevator went down, and Justine squeezed his hand.

"Kimberly, I'll tell you at dinner, but we need to settle down the mob before we head to the table," and the door opened into the luxurious sunken living room.

"Why don't we make them a pizza party and feed them while I'm cooking? " Ron suggested, and Kim smiled and nodded.

"That sounds like an excellent plan, Ronald," Justine concurred, and she and Ron headed into the kitchen as Kim and Mike headed for the kids.

-----

"Ronald, Kimberly offered Mike and me a full partnership," Justine finally spoke after they had topped the final pizza and slid it into the oven.

"I know. I'm the one who pushed the idea first to her, Justine.

"You and Mike have done so much for the kids of Middleton, and you've both worked you butts off: Mike in the school, and you for Kim, that anything you get is only a partial down-payment for everything you've done," Ron smiled to himself as he wiped the flour off the countertops and prepared to make his Pizza Punch drink that his kids loved.

"Ronald, you're so sweet, and you've always looked out for me, no matter what the cost to you.

"Thank you, Ronald," and Justine kissed his cheek.

Ron blushed as he stirred the juices together.

"And, before you say it, Ronald, I've heard "No Big" so much that I'm ready to kill the next person that says it," Justine smiled sweetly as she handed him the next juice to add to the mixture.

"You're right, Justine, but it's not big to me when you are a card-carrying member of the special house of Ron's Friends and Important People, and I believe that your card number is in the single digits, too," and he finished the juices and he headed for the refrigerator for the bottles of diet ginger ale.

"You and Mike and your children are important to us, Justine, as important as Felix and Monique, as important as the 'Load Doctors,'" and Ron chuckled as he pulled the last of the bottles out of the 'fridge.

"Why should you not be partners, Justine? You do the work; you should receive the benefits," and he placed the last bottle and turned around to be grabbed and hugged by Justine.

"Oh, Ronald," and she laughed and cried at the same time, and turned to full-time crying.

"Justine, it's all right: you'll make it," and Ron reached up and patted her back, and she pulled him even tighter.

"They tried to kill us, Ronald; they tried to kill my babies, even after they didn't blown us up," she sobbed.

"Monique, Felix, even Bonnie: where will they stop?"

"They won't, I'm afraid, until they either win or they are stopped," Ron whispered into her hair.

"You know, Justine," Ron said as they separated and he handed her a tissue after dabbing her tears away, "We haven't been this close since the ranch.

"And, I must say, Justine, Mike's a very lucky man," Ron finished, and Justine swatted at him as she blushed and laughed.

"Thank you, Ronald, but I'm the lucky one."

-----

Kim couldn't help but grin and poke Mike when she heard Jane Cotton, the oldest Cotton daughter, barking orders to the mob. The two adults decided to stay back and listen.

"Brandon! Denise! Frederick! Stop tormenting the naked mole rats!

"Don! Beth-Anne! Stop fighting!"

"You're not the boss of us," Don and Beth-Anne answered back, but Jane would have none of it.

"Listen, I'm older than you, and you have to do what I tell you to!

"Do you want me to tell your mother what you did in the elevator?"

"No, Jane," and they sulked away.

"Donna! Stop pulling Dean's hair!"

"But, I like to pull his hair," she whined.

"Do you want me to pull your hair?"

"No, Jane," Donna answered and tried the Puppy-Dog-Pout: "I'm sorry," she quivered her lower lip, and Kim couldn't help but burst out laughing now.

Jane looked in the direction of the laugh, and she blanched.

"Dad! Aunt Kimberly! How long have you been there?"

"Long enough, 'Sergeant' Jane," Kim smirked, and Jane went from blanched to red in an instant, but she grinned when her dad gave her the thumb's up.

Mike went running to her when she suddenly burst into tears, and he grabbed his oldest daughter.

'She looks like a doll next to her giant of a father,' Kim thought as the rounded up the rest of the kids, now all staring at Jane and Mike and crying, themselves.

Kim managed to get them all into the media room and watching a rerun of 'Scamper and Bitey,' them all laughing and pointing at the screen as their tears had magically vanished with the television and a Mother's touch. She made it back into the living room just in time to see a sight that warmed her heart:

Mike was holding Jane in his arms, dancing to their own music, with Jane standing on his feet, and they were staring into each others' eyes as they both shed tears of sadness and joy.

"It doesn't matter, Jane. All that matters is that you are alive and safe and still here, my Augustinian princess," Mike seemed to know exactly what voice to use, what words to say, as Jane snuggled up into him even tighter.

"Thank you, Daddy."

"We can always get another house, but I can't get another you."

"I'm sorry I didn't follow the evacuation plan, Daddy," she whimpered, again, and Mike took her face into his giant hands.

"You got your brothers and sisters out, Jane: that's what was important," Mike repeated, and he kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, my princess," and he kissed her forehead, again.

"Thank you, Daddy, for helping me remember what's important, even when I have the urge to be an only child sometimes," and the two of them chuckled and continued to dance their silent dance of thanks.

Kim stood there, transfixed, and she dabbed at the tears at her face.

She stepped back behind the wall and grabbed the Kimmunicator, punching the button for Wade. He answered within 5 seconds.

'He must sleep with that thing,' and she remembered her time with him, and she smiled. 'But, he doesn't love it as much as he loves my cousin Jocelyn,' as her thought ended as Wade's face appeared.

"What's the sitch, Kim?"

"Wade, any more leads on Mike and Justine's house?"

"Running chemical analyses now, Kim, but I don't expect to find anything unusual."

"How about Felix and Mon?"

"Mon's awake, and Felix is still in surgery, but the prognosis is good."

"And, Bonnie?" and Wade frowned.

"50-50, Kim: the doctors just decided which of the surgeries to do next, and she's got four or five more to do before we'll know anything certain.

"We're all praying, Kim," Jocelyn stuck her head into the camera range, and Wade nodded.

"Thanks, Jocelyn, Wade."

"What about you and yours, and Mike and Ron, and Justine's kids?" Joss fired off questions like the machine-pistol version of the UziNaza.

"Whoa, cousin: one at a time!

"All of the kids in the center are fine: none of them were physically hurt, and Mike had counselors on-site within 10 minutes of the scene being secured. They'll be back, tomorrow, and for as long as they're needed.

"Mike and Ron are all right: no injuries, or even bruises," and Kim grinned. "Of course, I haven't check Ron our fully, yet," and Joss grinned with her.

"Justine will have an all-nighter, if she's gonna check Mike out," Wade dead-panned, and Joss whacked him on the back of the head.

"Anyway: we're gonna feed the kids and put them to bed, and then we're gonna talk," Kim smiled, and Wade asked the question before Joss.

"Did she take the offer, Kim?"

"She's going to talk to Mike about it after dinner, Wade, but I'll bet it'll come up during.

"Do you have any news on the 'Operation Snapshot,' Wade?"

"Yes, and it is great news, Kim: **_BlazeIt!_** was able to get all of the pictures and their important documents from the fire safe and the box that you told us about ('It was just where you said it would be, Kim: how did you know?' and Kim smiled), and we were able to reproduce all of them from the damaged prints, including the one you asked for. The copy you wanted is in an envelope in your dining room, taped under the table as you requested," and both

"We'll keep you informed on the happenings and statuses, Kim," and Wade and Joss signed off.

'You rock, Wade, once again, my friend, my partner,' she thought to herself as she mentally blew him a kiss and put the Kimmunicator away before she peeked into the living room.

The dance had ended, and Mike was just holding her now, and they were laughing.

"Am I interrupting?" Kim asked as she entered.

"Not at all, Aunt Kimberly," Jane replied as she smiled, stepping away from her dad. "I'll go and make sure that they all wash up before dinner, Daddy," and she ran to him and hugged him, then kissed his cheek, said "I love you, Daddy," and she then ran over to Kim and hugged her, and Kim winked as they separated. Jane grinned and ran into the other room, taking on her 'Sergeant Jane' aspect to get them ready for dinner.

"I love you too, big guy," and Kim reached up and kissed his cheek, red coming to Mike's face.

"Wha…Wha…was that for, Kim?" Mike sputtered.

"I saw you with your daughter, Daddy," she replied as she took his hand and headed towards the kitchen.

Mike stopped, and Kim knew that moving Mike when he didn't want to move was like moving Ron out of Bueno Nacho on Naco night. He turned and looked down at the petite (to him, at least), green-eyed beauty.

"I learned it all from you and Ron, Kim; well, not all: my dad and mom taught me, too," Mike replied, and he took Kim's hand and squeezed it.

"Do you remember when you painted my fingernails in Detention, Kim?" and they both laughed. "I couldn't believe that someone as beautiful as you, and a cheerleader to boot, would even want to be next to me, and here you were, totally serious and careful, paying attention to me like I was the center of your universe.

"You gave me the courage to talk to girls after that, Kim, even though I did take some ribbing the next day for the nail polish," Mike grinned. "Thank you," and he bent way down and kissed her cheek, "for giving me the strength and courage that I'd never had before."

"Aww, Mike, 'No Big,'" Kim replied, and Mike shook his head 'no.'"

"Without that, Kim, I'd have never told Ron or anyone how I felt about Justine, the center of my universe yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I certainly wouldn't have ever kissed her in public that Christmas," he stated calmly, his voice rumbling throughout the room, and Kim giggled.

"Well, it's true, Kim!"

"I know, Mike. It's just hard for me to imagine you as being as shy as you were, back then.

"Did you 'universe center' tell you about the offer?" and Mike bent down and picked Kim up to his face level and kissed her cheek.

"What do you think we talked about in the limousine over here, 'Kimberly,'" and Mike grinned as he held her in the air.

"Well?"

"Not until I've had dinner: I'm a growing boy," and Kim spewed spittle all over his face as she laughed.

"I love you, Kim, even when you douse me in joy," Mike rumbled and chuckled, and he gently set her down after kissing her cheek again.

"Let's go, 'Growing Boy,'" Kim chuckled, reached and took his massive hand and pulled him towards the kitchen.

-----

"I love this 'Pizza Punch,' Ron," and Mike downed another large glass.

"Me too, Daddy! Can I have some more?"

"'May I have some more?'" his dad corrected, and Brandon stuck out his tongue at his dad and sighed.

"May I have some more, please?" he asked, and Ron laughed as he poured another glass for Brandon.

"Thank you, Mr. Stoppable," and Brandon made a hasty exit from the kitchen and back to the pizza, before any other lessons could appear.

"Mike: do you want the trout, or does tilapia tickle your tongue?"

"That sounds good, Ron; how 'bout you, Justine?"

"Tilapia sounds divine, Ronald."

"Make it mine, also," Kim added, and Ron pulled out eight large filets and proceeded to pat them dry and seasoned them generously with minced garlic, minced green onions, a packet pre-mixed for all of the filets that contained a single pinch of freshly-ground cinnamon and nutmeg, and freshly-ground sea salt and cracked black pepper, letting the filets sit in the lemon, orange, lime, and freshly-chopped cilantro marinade while he heated his kitchen grill and tossed the spinach salad, before he gently patted the crushed pecans into the fish.

Justine heard a noise, and she turned and was shocked at what she saw:

Kimberly Ann Possible-Stoppable was in a kitchen, and there was no haz-mat team nearby!

Kim looked up, saw Justine's shocked expression and sighed.

"Not you, too!" she said, sounding exasperated, and she watched both Mike and Justine laugh. Rather than reply further, she simply smiled her patented smile/smirk and continued her expert preparations of the asparagus spears and artichokes on a second, smaller grill while running cold water over the hard-boiled eggs, effectively stopping the cooking process.

"Yes, Justine, the sun has set in the East, hydrogen now has five neutrons, and my Kimila is no longer a threat to Western civilization by entering a kitchen," Ron sniped and grinned as he checked the heat of the grill with the back of his hand above it at the proper height.

"Perfect," he declared, and he squeezed freshly-cut lemons over each of the filets, sprayed the grill with olive oil, spread a bed of medium-sliced lemons on the entire grill, sprayed an additional light spray of olive oil on top of the lemon slices, and then gently placed the filets on top of the lemon bed.

"Bread," Ron muttered to himself as he removed 3 baguettes from the pantry, lightly brushed them with extra-virgin olive oil, and tossed them onto a cooking sheet and slid them into an oven for warming and crisping the outsides with the oil.

"Gee, they way they move in the kitchen, you'd think that they were married or something," Mike quipped, and he caught the crouton that Ron threw at him in his mouth and crunched it, smiling.

"Garlic and oregano, with a hint of onion: right, Ron?"

"Very good, Mikey," Ron tossed another, which Mike caught.

Mike then held his arms out in front of him, turned both palms outward, and clapped the back of his hands together several times, making a strange noise.

Ron guffawed, and Kim looked perplexed.

"'Seal of approval,' Kim," Ron answered, and Justine and Kim both laughed, tentatively.

"Come on! You never did this in Pixie Scouts?"

"I was never a Pixie, Ronald," Justine responded.

"Not in my troop," added Kim.

Mike and Ron both shook their heads sadly, and Mike poured himself another glass of Pizza Punch while Ron checked on the fish filets.

"Melted butter for the artichokes, Kim?" Ron asked, and Kim held up the saucepan and poured its contents into a medium-sized bowl, and Ron watched the melted butter flow proudly into its serving container.

"She **can** do anything," Ron grinned to himself, and a few moments later learned what else Kim had learned to do in the kitchen when he was popped on the rear with a SNAP! He turned quickly, in surprise, to see Kim standing with a smile of innocence on her face and the guilty wound-up towel hanging in her hand.

"Yup: definitely married," Mike quipped, and

SNAP!

Mike found himself the recipient/victim of a Justine towel assault.

"We're back, Mr. Cotton, with the root beer," Jason struggled as he and Stephen carried the keg together, and Mike reached over and lifted it with one hand.

"Thanks, guys," Mike responded. "Ron, is there a place where I can put this to chill?" and Ron opened a refrigerator with a slot foe several kegs, and Mike slid it in perfectly.

"Thanks, guy," and Mike shut the door.

Ron having already turned the filets, topped them with his homemade cilantro butter, and it sat, slowly and quietly melting as the tilapia cooked the final minutes, and he lifted the filets, one at a time, with their lemon beds, placing them on a large fish-shaped platter.

"We're almost ready," Ron announced; "has everyone washed their hands?" and Justine and Mike bolted for the sink.

-----

"Ronald, that dinner was divine," Justine pushed her plate containing the artichoke remains away from her.

"Yes, Mr. Stoppable, that was incredible," Jason added, and Stephen nodded and smiled.

"Then, you'll love dessert," Ron replied as he rolled the cart into the dining room, and Justine sighed and smiled as she turned to look at Kim.

"Kimberly, how do you live with this torture on a daily basis?"

"Ron-aerobics," she replied simply, and the two women re-shared their laugh from earlier in the day as Mike stood and began removing the dinner remains from the table, expertly balancing the dinner plates on his massive arms as he walked into the kitchen with them.

Ron was just uncovering the dessert when Mike returned, took one look at the dessert before them, and smiled.

"Well," he rumbled," at least it's not 'Wadeshine,'" he smiled as Ron began to slice the deep-dish Middleton-style cheesecake, placing a heft slice on each plate, and then topping each with the strawberry/brandy liqueur that he ladled from the chafing dish.

Then, with a grin and a flourish, he lit all of the plates with a single wave, and flames shot up from each, quickly dying down to a soft glow that disappeared in less than 20 seconds. Ron then placed each plate in front of a diner with a smile and a grace typically not matched with him, and he closed the chafing dish, covered the dessert cart, and slipped into his seat all with a single graceful motion.

"So, Mike, I've heard Justine's version of what happened that afternoon, but I've never heard you side of the story," Ron took a bite of the dessert, and then waved his empty fork at his wife and guests, now barely closing their mouths from the dessert show.

"People, people: less gawking, more eating and talking," he laughed, and cut a piece from his dessert and placed it in front of his wife's mouth, exhorting her to open.

"Well," Mike started as Kim took the bite and moaned.

"Oh, God, that's good," came from her mouth as she savored the bite, and Mike and Jason and Stephen all turned a deep red.

"Maybe we shouldn't be here," Stephen said, and Jason nodded as he started to stand, but Ron waved him back down.

"I heard a knock on the door," Mike re-started, trying unsuccessfully to get the picture of Kim saying that phrase out of his mind….

-----

"I opened the door and beheld my dream girl at my door ('Aww, that's so sweet,' Justine added, and Kim hush'ed her.).

"'Hey, Justine,'" I said; that's all I could get out of my mouth.

"She was wearing a dark-blue dress that kept my eyes at one spot ('Make it two spots, Kimberly,' Justine grinned and added, and Kim hush'ed her, again). She was a bit taller than I remembered, but then my eyes headed south to her legs, and I knew I was hooked.

"She had on hose that made her legs shimmer in the sunlight, and she wore shoes besides her regular shoes from J-Dog, and she was even more beautiful and gorgeous than I had remembered from the end of school.

"I stepped out of the house and closed the door behind me. 'What brings you here, this afternoon, Justine?'"

"'I didn't know, Mike,' she grinned as she spoke, and I was in love all over again 'and I wanted to give you these two things before school started,' and she handed me a package.

"'That's just one,' I said softly, holding the package as if it were spun gold. Justine Flanner had given me a gift! Now, I was confused, and I guess I looked it, too.

"'And this,' and she jumped up and kissed my cheek!

"It was the kiss of my lifetime, my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

"'I think you're cute, too,' she added, and she then turned and ran back to her car and got in, closing the door. I could feel my face turning redder by the second.

"I stood there, grinning like an idiot as I looked thru the windshield at her, and I reached my hand up to just barely touch the spot where she kissed me. I bought it back, and there was lipstick on my hand. I stared at it for a few moments, then looked up, waved, and then opened the package.

"I reached in and pulled out a large brown envelope, then opened the clasp and reached in, pulling out the first sheet of paper; I thought my heart was going to stop or explode, I wasn't sure which.

"It was a picture of Justine, stretched out on a lounge chair in a red, blue, and white mesh lounge dress, transparent enough for me to see the swimsuit thru it and enough skin to keep my heart beating rapidly. She wore a large pair of sunshades that covered her eyes, but her smile was unmistakable, and her hair looked nothing like it had at school. She wore a pair of heels with the swimsuit, and her legs…I turned even redder, and my grin got even bigger.

"I looked up, and she was staring out of the windshield, waiting for a reaction.

"I gave her a thumbs-up, she smiled and waved.

"She mouthed 'Gotcha!' as she backed out of the driveway and headed away from my house, leaving me on the porch holding what I hoped was a picture I'd see made flesh, in my future, in my hands.

"'Mike: are you all right?' the voice came from behind me, through the door. 'You've been standing out on the porch for five minutes since that young girl left.'"

"'I'm fine, Mom, just fine,' I smiled as I took one more look at the picture, kissed it, and slipped it back into the envelope.

"As I turned and opened the door, I asked Mom:

"'Mom, how did you know that you and Dad were right for each other?'"

-----

"Mike! You never told me that!" Justine smiled as she stared at him.

"It's true, Justine, you hooked me the rest of the way with one group of pictures," Mike replied, "and I'm glad I had them at the office when the house blew," he grinned sadly, and Kim smiled inside.

"Besides, you weren't keen on the idea of us dating on the down-low, so to speak, but I didn't want to ruin your reputation by being seen with me: it's not like I could blend in with the crowds, and I didn't want them to think less of you. I enjoyed our movie nights, even though we came and went separately."

"Yes, but the time together was memorable," Justine smiled dreamily, and Mike sputtered as Stephen and Jason laughed.

"I am so glad that you talked me into competing in that Middleton Naco-eating contest with you, though," Mike added.. "That was the first time I got to kiss you in public, and I still remember the shocked look on your face when I picked you up and kissed you on the lips, in public, for the first time:

"'Brainy's cute,' I said, and you blushed, and then you jumped up and kissed my cheek.

"Mike, did you not know most of the school was pulling for you and Justine to get together?" Ron asked, and Mike looked shocked. He turned to Justine, and she nodded with a grin.

"Man, they were pulling for you all just like they were pulling for Kim and me before the junior prom," Ron added. "You mean that Justine never told you?" and he turned sharply to look at her, again, and she smiled innocently.

"Guess it just slipped my mind, Mike," was her excuse as she giggled, and Kim and Ron laughed.

"I wondered why everyone in school was cheering when I walked in that first day after the Festival: I just assumed it was because we'd won the Naco contest," Mike began to figure it all out, but he grinned.

"It doesn't matter: I got you good at graduation, Justine," and Mike grinned as Justine blushed and smiled….

-----

"…and the graduation ceremonies are officially concluded," Mr. Barkin announced, and the caps flew into the air with yells.

Mike kept his: he had a plan…and he pushed his way through the crowd to find Justine and her family.

"Mike!"

He turned and saw Justine coming through the crowd with her little brother and sister behind her, holding their mother's hand. Justine pushed her way through the remaining crowd and ran into the Mike's waiting arms, and he lifted her up and squeezed her tight, as they hugged each other for what seemed like hours but was only a minute or two.

"Mike, I'm so happy for you! A full-ride scholarship in Education at Middleton Institute: that's wonderful! It's just what you wanted!"

"Thank you, Justine.

"Mrs. Flanner, would you excuse us for a moment, please? I need to share something with Justine," and he winked at her mother, who grinned and winked back.

"Of course, Michael; take your time," she replied, and Mike put Justine down and took her hand, pulling her to the back of the stage as the crowd continued to disburse rapidly.

They got to the back of the stage, and Justine looked around: there was nothing special back here.

"Mike, what was it-" and he silenced her with a kiss so passionate that it stirred thoughts in Justine's mind that she tried to block out, but there was no chance: her body took over and showed its response to the man that she loved.

"Happy Graduation, Justine," Mike finally said when he let her go, and Justine gasped for breath and smiled broadly, then pulled him down and returned the kiss, providing the proper amount of lip pressure and tongue action to stir Mike's imagination beyond its limits.

"Happy Graduation, Mike," Justine replied, and Mike took a deep breath.

"What did you want to show me, Mike?" and Mike took off his cap and dropped to one knee, reaching under his commencement gown to retrieve a box.

Mike opened the box and turned it for Justine to see, and she gasped as she saw the ring.

"Justine, I have loved you from the moment I saw you when I first enrolled in Middleton High two years ago. I never in my wildest dreams believed that you would feel the same way that I did: after all, you were the genius, and I was the dreamer.

"You showed me, at the end of last summer, that you felt the same way, and my heart soared to heights that I never imagined.

"I'm old-fashioned: Three weeks ago, I asked your mother for permission, and she granted it.

"So, now, Justine Leanne Flanner," and Mike took the wring from the box and placed the box on his knee, "you need to know that I love you with all of my heart and soul and being, and that I would give my live for you.

"You've never looked down on me ('and, how would I?' she asked and laughed) as an intellectual inferior, but you treated me with respect and dignity and love…so much love that I thought, sometimes, that I would drown in all of it, and die happy.

"You've filled the gaps in my soul that I never knew existed until you arrived.

"Justine, I need you to be by my side for the rest of my life.

"Justine Leanne Flanner, will you do me the honor of becoming my bride, my wife, my partner?" and Mike placed the ring on her finger, and it fit, perfectly.

He looked up through the start of tears, and he saw Justine Flanner with a look he'd never see before:

Surprise, and shock.

He waited for an eternity (even though it was only a moment), and Justine's shock turned into a huge smile.

"Michael O'Kelley Cotton, I have loved you for what seems like forever," and Justine took a deep breath and continued.

"You make me smile, you make me laugh, you help me get past my tears, you've even stuffed me with Nacos," and he laughed and grinned at that comment, "and throughout it you've always loved me and nurtured me and helped me past my fears, my insecurities.

"You have given me more than I deserve: you gave me love, unconditionally and freely.

"Yes, Michael O'Kelley Cotton, I will marry you. I will be your partner, your bride, your wife, forever and forever," and Justine fell into Mike's arms and kissed her fiancée for the first time.

Thunderous applause started a few moments after the kiss slacked off a bit, and the pair finally separated long enough to turn their heads and look at-

What appeared to be the entire student body standing at the edge of the stage, wildly applauding, led by Kim and Ron and Monique and Felix and Bonnie and Josh and Mr. Barkin.

"Normally," Mr. Barkin spoke when the noise dropped, "I would not encourage PDAs on campus. In this case, however, since you two have officially graduated, I, instead of offering detention, offer my congratulations.

"Big Mike, Justine: I hope you two will be very happy together," he added, and the crowd restarted the applause.

"We've got one more graduation to go," Mike added when the noise dropped. "Justine's is being awarded her PhD in Particle Physics next Saturday, so she had to graduate here, today: they have some silly rule about no PhD until you have a High School Diploma" and the crowd laughed and cheered when Mike reached over and kissed Justine's cheek, then waved at Mrs. Flanner, her son and other daughter.

Mike then stood up, reached down and picked Justine up, and kissed her once again. He then placed her on his shoulders and grinned.

"I still think Brainy's cute," he announced to some laughs, "but now she's my Brainy," he finished, and the crowd laughed and cheered.

-----

"I still can't believe that I never expected that of you, Michael," Justine leaned over and kissed Mike.

"Hey, I'm full of surprises," Mike grinned, and Ron and Kim looked like they'd heard that line before.

"Finish your dessert, you two, because there's more surprises for you," Kim took another bite of the cheesecake flambé and moaned.

"Oh, there's definitely RonShine tonight!" she smiled, and Ron had only one response:

"Boo, and, Yah!" and Mike and Justine laughed as they finished their dessert.

-----

"I'll save the story of Jane's birth, the birth of the triplets, and what Justine told me she would do if I ever approached her again with the intent of procreating, Ron," Mike laughed as Ron nodded.

"Probably something similar to what Kim promised to do to me after the second set of Tweebs was born," Ron replied, and the men in the room all nodded knowingly as the ladies both smiled.

"What's the other surprise, Kimberly?"

"Wade's been busy, Justine," and Kim reached under the table and found multiple envelopes taped under it.

'You rock in Dolby multi-channel, Wade: thank you,' Kim thought as she pulled the first one out, and brought it above the table.

"Wade, and your daughter, Jane, Mike," Kim continued as she opened the envelope.

"Your daughter," Kim continued, "loves you both so very much. After she herded her siblings out of the house, and before she left it herself, she moved a special box under the dining room table and surrounded it with anything and everything she could find before the smoke and fire got to the room.

"Her quick action saved the contents from the fire, but there was smoke damage: **_BlazeIt!_** went in and recovered everything from the box," and Kim pulled the folder contents out.

"Everything?" Mike stammered, and Kim held up the picture of Justine on Mike's shoulders just after the proposal.

"Everything," Kim repeated, and Justine fell into her husband's arms, and they cried for their good fortune and wonderful daughter that risked her life.

"I'm going to have to talk with that girl," Mike said when they separated. "She shouldn't have done that: risked her life for silly pictures," he added.

"Actually, Mike, she did all the right things: She turned on the water faucets in the kitchen and plugged the sink, causing the water to overflow, so she gave herself some time to do this. She also left the house with her head and face wrapped in several wet towels so she could breathe," Ron added, and Mike just stared at him.

"What she did was not the smart thing to do: stay in the house; but everything that she did to protect herself could have been a video on how to protect yourself in case of a fire," Ron smiled. "That's one smart daughter you have there, Mike."

"Well, just look who her mother is, Kim," Stephen replied, and Justine blushed.

"And, that's not all," Kim pulled out a second envelope that had a single item inside.

"I believe this is yours, also," Kim stated as she handed them the envelope. Justine took it and opened it, dumping out a small piece of paper with numbers on it.

"What is this, Kimberly?" she asked, puzzled.

"I believe it's the combination to your new safe with your valuables that were recovered from your house and your original safe. Smart thing to do, having that fire-and-explosive-resistant safe installed, Justine," and Mike and Justine were stunned.

"This is the final envelope, guys," Kim handed them a letter-sized envelope with the **_BlazeIt! _**Logo on the return address site.

"What is this?" Justine opened it, peeked inside, and gasped. Mike took the envelope from her and had the same response.

"It seems that Wade's been busy, you two: **_BlazeIt! _**bought your homeowners' insurance carrier after you bought your house six years ago, and Wade got them to issue you your initial check," and silence entered the room.

"Well," Justine finally recovered her voice, "I guess we'll be paying our premiums to ourselves, from now on," she squeezed Mike's hand, and he squeezed back.

"So, the answer to the partnership question is a Yes?" Ron asked excitedly, and Mike nodded.

"BOOYAH!" he shouted, but Mike held up his hand.

"One question, now that we're full partners:

"What is 'Retribution?'" and Kim and Justine and Ron all had feared the question, but it was time to answer it.

"Mike, do you want Pizza Punch, some of your Root Beer, or something stronger? I'd recommend something stronger," Ron replied, and Mike held up three fingers.

"Scotch ok?" and Mike nodded, and he got up to get drinks for everyone.

"Should we leave, Ms. Stoppable?" Jason asked.

"No, Jason, this involves you far too much, so you might as well hear this and decide if you want to keep working for us after you're heard it," and Ron came back with six tumblers, two unopened bottles of scotch (Glenlevit and JD), ice, and bottled water.

After everyone had their drinks, Ron stood.

"Before we begin, a toast," and everyone stood.

Kim walked over to Ron, kissed him, and stood next to him when he began:

"To Sheri Nicole Possible;

"To Stephanie Loving Watership;

"To all those little brothers and sisters out there who have died because of these people:

"To Retribution!" and Ron slammed his drink down his throat and wiped his mouth.

"Retribution," Kim replied with the rest, and she slammed her drink down, kissed Ron again, and went back to her seat.

Ron sat down, and tears began to form in his eyes.

"A three-year-old girl was locked in a cage with her mother while the mother died. The little girl was left hooked up to poison, in the cage with her dead mother, for weeks by drug dealers, before she was rescued," and a sob came from Jason.

"That little girl was Andrea Jocelyn Possible-Load, and her mother was Lieutenant Sheri Nicole Possible, United States Navy…."

-----

chapter now complete….

- - -

**Author's afterward:**

This story is dedicated to all of the people who toil, hourly and daily, so that we will, hopefully, never have to implement Retribution in our lifetimes.

-----

For all of you, you wonderful Jade fans:

Thanks for your continued support, and PM me if you have any questions about this portion of the JadeKimVerse. I respond to all PMs, emails, and reviews.

And, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank all of my readers for their support in the Fannies.

I was honored, humbled, and surprised when I was awarded by you, my readers, the recognition of Best New Writer of 2006 along with King in Yellow (a tie: you'll never get that in the Oscars!). I was also in the top three vote-getters in the category of Best Alternative Pairings for Joss and Wade.

This is our award, because I couldn't have done it without you, my readers.

Thank you.

**Preview: **

What is 'Retribution?'

What does 'Retribution' have to do with Sheri Nicole Possible?

What does 'Retribution' have to do with Stephanie Watership?

Who's running Rockwaller Industries?

Chapter 5: Retribution, Defined, is next, and you'll get your answers there.

Thanks for reading, and please review.

-----


	5. Chapter 5: Retribution, Defined

Partners, Again

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….).

This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

Read and Review, and Enjoy!

-----

What is 'Retribution?'

What does 'Retribution' have to do with Sheri Nicole Possible?

What does 'Retribution' have to do with Stephanie Watership?

Who's running Rockwaller Industries?

Chapter 5: Retribution, Defined, is next, and you'll get your answers there.

This **is**, most definitely, a cornucopia of disturbing events: be warned….

-----

Chapter 5: Retribution, Defined

-----

Mike held up his hand.

"One question, now that we're full partners:

"What is 'Retribution?'" and Justine, Kim and Ron winced; all feared the question, but it was time to answer it.

"Mike, do you want Pizza Punch, some of your Root Beer, or something stronger? I'd recommend something stronger," Ron replied, and Mike held up three fingers.

"Scotch ok?" and Mike nodded, and he got up to get drinks for everyone.

"Should we leave, Ms. Stoppable?" Jason asked.

"No, Jason, this involves you far too much, so you and Stephen might as well hear this and decide if you want to keep working for us after you're heard it," and Ron came back with six tumblers, two unopened bottles of whiskey (Glenlevit and JD), ice, and bottled water.

After everyone had their drinks, Ron stood.

"Before we begin, a toast," and everyone stood.

Kim walked over to Ron, kissed him, and stood next to him when he began:

"To Sheri Nicole Possible;

"To Stephanie Loving Watership;

"To Stephanie Angelica Load;

"To all those little brothers and sisters out there who have died because of these people; and, to

"To Felix Alfredo Renton;

"To Monique Topenga Jenkins-Renton;

"To Walter Jay Nelson;" and Ron grinned as Kim blushed ('She still blushes when she hears his name, even after all these years; that's why I love this woman so much!' went through Ron's mind); and

"To Marisa Kay Nelson.

Ron nodded, and Justine took over the toasting from Ron:

"To Gregory James Claremore;

"To Melisandretti Gabriella Claremore;

"To Doctor Slim Possible;

"To Elizabeth Director-Possible;

"To Fletcher Ryan Benge;

"To Rebecca WhiteCloud Altra Barlow-Benge;

"To Arnold Patrick Carlos;

"To Rebecca Jane Casey-Carlos;

"To Stephen Michael Lopez;

"To Jennifer Anniston Battle-Lopez;" and Justine paused for a moment, looked directly at Kim, and smiled when she spoke the next name:

"To Bonnie Jean Rockwaller," and Kim smiled back at her, and Kim added:

"To Mom, Dad, Jim, Tim, all our families and the people that made us and make us who we are today;

"To Steve Barkin, who gave a damn, and still does, even today," and she smiled;

"To Charles Brickle, who gave Joss a chance, and gives a damn, even today," and she smiled as Ron grinned.

Ron finished the toast:

"To those who we've lost, and to those who have fought the good fight, and to those who will be by our sides when we take it to them once and, hopefully, only once:

"To Retribution!" and Ron slammed his drink down his throat and wiped his mouth.

"Retribution," Kim replied with the rest, and she slammed her drink down, kissed Ron again, and went back to her seat.

Ron sat down, and tears formed almost immediately in his eyes:

"A three-year-old girl was locked in a cage with her mother while the mother died. The little girl was left hooked up to poison, in the cage with her dead mother, for weeks by drug dealers, before she was rescued," and a sob came from Jason.

"That little girl was Andrea Jocelyn Possible-Load, and her mother was Lieutenant Sheri Nicole Possible, United States Navy…."

-----

"Joss was locked in a cage with her mother?" Stephen asked, a tear falling.

"Sheri Nicole and Andrea Jocelyn were kidnapped in London and taken to West Texas by people that wanted her dead, Stephen. She had managed to protect her daughter, and the kidnappers were idiots, or Joss would have died with her in the cage.

"They couldn't hook the IV up correctly to a three-year-old, and Joss survived. They were found by DEA, Border Patrol, a fledgling GJ organization, and her father and a friend.

"Her father is Dr. Slim Possible, and the friend was Sheri Nicole's maid-of-honor at her wedding, an Air Force Major named Elizabeth Director.

"Wait! You mean Betty and Slim haven't always been married?" Jason blurted out.

Stephen hit him on the back of the head and yelled "D'OI!" and the laughter went around the table.

"When did they get married?"

"That's a whole different story," Kim replied, and she looked at Ron with a dreamy look as she remembered that Christmas Eve night.

He took another swig of Glenlevit and continued.

"A nine-year-old young man had to identify the body of a 16-year-old girl who committed suicide," and Mike cringed as Justine grabbed his hand.

"The young woman had been staying with the young man and his parents because her parents had died, and her foster parents were 'doing a number' on the system.

"What pushed her over the edge was when her foster father and his friend raped her after they had done three lines of cocaine; she learned, after she had been accepted into the Global Justice Training program, that she was pregnant. She saw no way out, so she said good night to her 'little brother,' as she called him, and she went to the college library, studied, and went outside and killed herself.

"The young man, as a result, became extremely agoraphobic, and never left his room for more than 20 minutes at a time, even working with a beautiful (Kim blushed) cheerleader bent on saving the world, and then he saw a picture of the young lady, and she asked for his help.

"He, while helping her, heard her story, and decided that…well, you know the results," Ron smiled and downed the last of his glass of scotch.

"Dr. Wade, and Dr. Joss," Mike asked, and Justine nodded.

"I couldn't have gone thru any of what they did and remained sane," Mike commented, and a pop came over the sound system.

"And, who says I'm sane, now?" came from the speaker, and a hologram (more precisely, two holograms) popped into view, and Andrea Jocelyn and Wade Agamemnon Load were seating at their dinner table, looking at Ron's guests.

"We sent the kids to bed, Kim, after we got back from _**booyah's**_: we thought it would be better to talk without assistance, even though our son thinks he's old enough to carry the 'Load' with us," and Kim and Justine groaned.

"Hey, I'm just quoting him," Wade whined, and Joss grinned and squeezed his hand.

"I wouldn't want to go through my early years, again," Wade added, but then grinned. "Well, I'd really like to go through that first Montana experience, but that's not important, is it, Sweet Tea?" and Wade was smacked on the back of the head as Mike, Stephen, and Jason all roared.

"Joss and I had worked a deal with Montana DCI and been helping them with several drug cases, and the result of that was that Joss' school was attacked," and Mike growled noticeably.

"One of Joss' friends, who had been talking to DCI to provide them with information to break up a major ring, was beat severely, but he survived. They came after Fletcher in the hospital, and his girlfriend stepped in front of him and took two bullets: Becky almost died, as well, but she made it through, but only after several months of intense physical therapy to regain her ability to walk," Wade added.

'That, and a little 'Ronshine' and MMP,' he grinned at Ron, and Ron nodded in return.

'That, my friend, and her faith in herself,' Ron replied, and Wade smiled and nodded.

"If this had been it, then nothing more would have happened," Kim said sadly, "but, unfortunately, that's not all that happened."

-----

"I had to put DNA evidence in the hands of the Attorney General before I could get the youngest of Stephanie's brothers and sisters that remained in the system out of her foster patent's home," Wade said, "and them into custody on so many child endangerment, statutory rape, homicide III, and every other charge I could find, with Mel's help, besides the drug charges that the local District Attorney tossed up his hands and screamed for help.

"There were so much heroin, cocaine, and marijuana in the house and the storage rooms that they had rented that drug prices skyrocketed for the next three years in Middleton," then Wade went from smiling to super-silent, and Joss put her arm around his shoulder.

"Wade had a lock of Stephanie's hair from her hairbrush," Joss explained as she squeezed Wade, "but that wasn't good enough for the defense attorney in the DNA evidence trace, so…" and Wade:

-----

"**THEY DUG HER UP!"** Wade sobbed as he hadn't done in several years, and the room was sound-absorbent except for the sobs coming from everyone in the room, physically and virtually.

"They couldn't be content with violating her in life; they wanted to violate her, even in death, so they pushed for the exhumation for DNA collection.

"Her foster father laughed when the judge, reluctantly, issued the exhumation order, and I glared at him after he pointed at me and laughed.

"But," Wade looked up with a feral grin, "I got the best of them: I gave my victim impact statement, Betty gave hers, and I was in the room when each and every one of them was executed," and he smiled a vengeful smile.

"I wouldn't have done all of that, but they wouldn't let her rest after they drove her to kill herself," Wade added, and Jason and Stephen stood up.

"Whatever you want me to do, I'm in," Jason announced.

"My sister was murdered when a guy broke into her apartment, looking for money to buy drugs," he added.

"I lost my wife in a DUI: he was so high, the police Tazer didn't take him down after four shots," Stephen announced. "I'm in, no matter what," he added, and Joss smiled a sad smile.

'How many more?' she thought.

'How many more will be hurt, will have to die?'

-----

"I need more cheesecake," Kim announced, breaking the quiet after Jason's and Stephen's announcement. Justine laughed as Ron grinned and cut another slice for Kim, and flaming it just right.

The flames went down, and Kim took a bite.

"Oh, God, Ron, that's sooo good."

"I'm glad we sent the kids to bed," Joss smirked, and she and Wade joined the laughter coming from everyone in the room – everyone, that is, except Kim, who continued eating and moaning.

"After Joss graduated from college, and we got married," Wade smiled, and Joss leaned over and kissed him, mumbling "Wadeshine," _**BlazeIT!**_ kept working with Montana DCI, providing liaison support as well as technical assistance, but we mainly concentrated on S&R west of the Mississippi.

"That changed when they went after me, first, or so I thought," Wade smiled, but Kim remembered the look on his face….

-----

"Kim, that was wonderful!" Joss was beaming as she and Kim unhooked their open chutes and walked from the field where they had landed after diving from the Team Possible plane.

"I haven't been sky-diving for fun in a long time."

"Me either, Joss and I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I'm glad your hubby could let you go for a dive without him."

"HEY!" Kim looked up and saw Wade walking over to them from their car, the newlywed husband look still on his face after 10 months, and now the father-to-be smile had joined it.

"How are you, MTB?" he asked as he pulled Joss into an embrace and kissed her

"I'm fine, Wade," she replied, sounding exasperated.

Wade grinned and patted her emergency chute. "I guess I'd better guess to having something like this in the way in a few months, Sweet Tea?" and she swatted at him and missed.

"Not for long" and a man pointing a pistol at them walked out of the hanger.

"Say goodbye to your redhead, Dr. Load," and he pulled the trigger.

"NO!" and Wade dove into Joss, trying to push her to the ground as Kim wished that she had worn her wrist grappler as her feet met the shooter's head.

She made sure he was unconscious, and she turned to her nightmare:

Joss had stripped off her emergency chute and made a pillow for Wade's head and upper back, propping him up. She was holding his head and crying, but he was too busy looking down and watching the red circle on his shirt expand.

"It's not expanding in a perfect circle, Joss," was his comment, and she laughed and cried at the same time, even while her husband was bleeding.

Kim grabbed her Kimmunicator and punched Ron's code as she ran to Wade.

"Ron! **911! Wade's down**! Middleton Airport, stat!" and she cut the connection as she fell to the ground and took Wade's hand with one hand and ripped his shirt open with the other.

"Hey, Kim," came weakly from his mouth.

"Wade, why?" Kim asked, tears fighting to escape from her eyes.

"They couldn't take my Joss away from me," and Joss looked at him.

"Wade, emergency chute, guy: he couldn't have done anything to me with this padding," Joss yelled at him.

"Oops," and Wade grinned as Joss laughed in her tears and fears.

"Hey, so maybe I didn't think things through," Wade whined, and Joss and Kim smiled.

"See gun, save wife: that's what went through my mind, Sweet Tea. I wasn't thinking about anything else," and he smiled, then turned his head a bit and smirked at Kim.

"And, besides, Kim, you always wanted to rip my clothes off, didn't you?" and Kim blushed and cried at the same time as Wade coughed, and the circle grew.

"I always knew I'd take a bullet for you, my strawberry-goddess," Wade remarked nonchalantly as the airport emergency vehicle arrived, sirens blaring.

"I just didn't know it would hurt this much," he laughed as the paramedic took over for Kim. She pulled Joss away from her husband.

"Ma'am," the paramedic came over to Joss as they loaded Wade into the ambulance. "He's going to be fine. The bullet missed the major organs and arteries, and it looks like it only took a hunk of flesh from his chest.

"Hell of a diet plan, though: .303 diet plan, not recommended by medical professional," and he laughed while Joss glared at him.

"This is what kept any more from happening than did," and he held up a badly-dented locket. "It appeared to have bounced off of this before it went in, and that slowed the bullet's speed and altered the trajectory. Without that," and he trailed off.

"I have to take this in for the police, but I thought you should know, Miss Possible," and he smiled.

"It's Mrs. Possible-Load, now," and she grinned, and he clutched his heart.

"I remember you from Wade's first Christmas out," the paramedic grinned. "I'm John Garcia Dean; I was one of Wade's preschool running buddies," and he smiled.

"I'd shake your hand, but…" and he held up his bloody hand.

"That's all right," and she kissed his cheek.

The police had arrived in the meantime and were collecting the trash: they pulled the now-barely conscious shooter to his feet, cuffed him behind his back, and were stuffing him into the back of cruiser while Middleton CSI went to work.

"Tell him no Nacos for a month after that stunt, John!" she yelled as John sprinted to the ambulance and the ride to the hospital.

"Kim?"

"Yes, Joss?"

"Something about that shooter looked familiar. Can you have Ron check the back records from when my high school was held hostage?"

"Certainly, Joss, but why don't you do it?"

"Because, Kim," Joss smiled, at her cousin, "I'm about to faint," and Joss dropped like a stone.

Kim was just barely able to catch her as she fell….

-----

"First, they went after me, I thought, but they were going after Joss the whole time: they figured that, with her gone, I'd go back into my hole."

-----

"MTB, what's wrong?" Wade came into the bedroom and saw Joss doubled over.

"Wade," she grunted as her head rose, and Wade saw the pain in her face, "I think she's coming."

"NOW?

"But, it's only seven months, Joss; it's not time," and Joss glared at him.

Wade was scared, but not as frightened as the look made him.

"**Wade**," she growled.

"**Hospital**.

"**Now**."

"Yes, Sweet Tea," and his PosComm called for an ambulance.

-----

"Wade," the doctor came out of the operating room, mask still on.

"What's wrong, Doctor? Is it Joss?" and Wade almost pushed her aside, but she held her ground, blocking his path.

"Joss is fine, Wade.

"It's your daughter.

"My…daughter?" and Wade beamed.

"I'm sorry, Wade," and Wade pushed her aside and ran into the recovery room.

"Doctor," a nurse called as she walked up, and Joss' doctor stayed outside, giving the husband and wife some privacy.

"Doctor, I just got the blood results back from the lab.

"I don't know how you knew, but you were spot on.

"The mother was definitely poisoned, and the poison caused the death of their child. It almost killed her, as well, and it likely would have done so if you hadn't delivered as soon as you did **and** started up that IV of antibiotics when you did.

"**How** did you know?" and the doctor just held up her hands and shrugged.

"I have no idea; it just came to me that it looked like something I remembered from medical school, but I have no idea why.

"It was like I just had a flash of insight, or someone up there was trying to tell me something," and she smiled as she looked up and mouthed 'thank you.'

Joss was sitting up in the bed and cradling a blanket, tears already flowing when he slammed into the room.

"Wade," she managed to eek out, and he looked at his wife, and his heart broke into a million pieces.

"Wade, I'm sorry," Joss whispered, and the tears streaming down her face were staining her blue hospital gown.

"I've failed you," and Joss burst into tears as Wade practically levitated to her side.

"You can never fail me, Sweet Tea, and you never will, my strawberry-goddess," he smiled on the outside as his heart broke on the inside, looking down at their daughter, never having had a chance at life.

"Stephanie Angelica, go up and meet your Aunt Stephanie," Wade whispered, and Joss looked up at him and smiled through her tears. They had agreed on the names, but she hadn't spoken it, yet.

"Stephanie, please take care of our daughter, Stephanie Angelica Load. She never had a chance, just like you," and the two parents hugged their stillborn daughter and each other.

-----

"The doctor told us that Joss' food had been poisoned, and the poison was tailored to interact with and kill both her and her unborn child; if the doctor hadn't recognized the symptoms and started the antibiotics, when she did…well," and Wade squeezed Joss' hand.

"They almost killed me, and they killed my daughter." Wade smiled, and Kim and Ron both shuddered inside: they had seen that look, before, both when Joss had been attacked and when Mel had called….

-----

"_**BlazeIT!**_ Command Center, Wade's online."

"Wade," all he could hear was inconsolable weeping.

"Rebecca Jane? What's wrong?"

"Wade, it's Mel.

"She just got a call from the GDR Airlines: their Frankfurt to Chicago flight was shot down over the Atlantic."

"WHAT?" and Wade got onto the system and stated scanning, his hands slamming into the keys.

Kim and Ron walked into the backup Command Center in Wade and Joss' new home, and they could only stare at the headline that Wade had displayed:

**Airliner shot down, over 300 dead.**

"Who?"

"They think it was terrorists, but no one's claiming," and Wade shook his head 'no' as he scanned the passenger manifest.

"Likely not, RJ: there were four known terrorist key players on board.

"Do they think it was suicide bombers?"

"No, Wade: this was one of the full-scan flights, and everyone was searched before the flight.

"But, Wade, they gave me this and told me that it didn't exist," and she dropped a file on his desktop.

He opened it, and there were two sound files and two videos.

He opened the first video, and Kim and Ron watched as a missile closed from behind the aircraft and blew the tail section completely off, the plane then spiraling downward.

He opened the second video, and he saw the radar scan showing a missile track appear seemingly out of thin air and head for the first aircraft. It disappeared into the aircraft' radar image.

"Stealth fighter," Wade remarked nonchalantly, and both Kim and Ron nodded.

"Don't listen to the audios, Wade," RJ recommended, and Wade nodded, in a bit of shock before he resumed his keyboard assault.

Then, the shoe dropped on Wade's head when he reread the manifest.

"Greg was coming back from Berlin, wasn't he?" Wade asked, hopefully.

"He was, Wade," and Mel's head appeared next to Rebecca Jane's on the screen, her tears still on her face. "But, yesterday, they ran over to Frankfurt for a soccer match and some beer and brats. He called me and told me he was changing his fight, and he told me not to worry: it was a full-scan flight, so nothing would happen. He told me he loved me and then he hung up.

"He called, right before he went into the full scan process, and he then left me a voice mail as the plane sat on the tarmac, and he told me he loved me both times, Wade: it's like he knew something was going to happen," she finally broke down, again, as Rebecca Jane wrapped her arms around the new widow.

Wade heard a sound, and he looked behind him to see Ron holding Kim, and they were both rocking back and forth.

"I never had the chance…" Wade turned his head back to the screen when he recognized the all-too familiar voice, and Mel was smiling through her tears.

"Wade, I'm pregnant," and Wade's heart broke because he knew what she was going to say next, even before she spoke.

"He didn't know; I was going to tell him when his plane landed," and she smiled even bigger.

"Mel, I'm so sorry," and Wade hears Joss' voice behind him.

"I called Mamma2 and told her, and she's already working with Interpol und Der Politzei Berliner on the investigation.

"Mel, do you need anything? Momma2's just down the road, and you know Daddy: he kin do anything!'" and both Wade and Kim chuckled silently at Joss' relapse to her Montana-speak.

-----

"They killed Mel's husband and 315 others on that GDR flight that went down, and they're still killing, even today. They started around 2005 in North Texas with 'cheese' and expanded to 'spray cheezi,' and now they're into elementary schools worldwide.

"Who is 'they,' Wade, and how do you know who and what they've done, and how do you tie them together?"

"He's got the whole world, all wired up," Ron started singing, and Wade grimaced.

"He's got the whole world, all wired up,"

"He's got the whole world, all wired up,"

"He's got the whole world, all wired up." Ron finished, and the lack of applause was deafening.

"Well, he does," Ron pouted, and Kim kissed his pout away.

"More cheesecake, less pouting," she stage-whispered, and Justine and Mike broke into laughter as Ron cut yet another piece.

"I started planning 'Retribution' when I went to Montana for the first time; I realized that there were people who had not been punished that deserved to be punished, and I thought I was invulnerable enough to do 'anything,'" and Wade gave Kim a thumbs-up. She grinned, and then she smiled when Ron lit her new best friend on fire, and the cheesecake flamed in front of her.

"Come to momma," she called the cheesecake as the flames went down.

"I learned soon enough, " Wade continued, "after hacking Montana DCI, witnessing my Sweet Tea in front of a gun, and watching and helping my new friends get better after beatings and gun shot wounds, I was neither all-powerful nor omniscient, and I needed help.

"Mel was helpful with her bon-diggity analysis skills," and Ron laughed at his choice of words, "and DCI took to my data like ducks to water, and we found multiple threads connecting the small-time drug dealers in Montana. We kept digging, trading data to other law enforcement agencies for information about the dealers that they had taken off the streets or were investigating.

"All of this was happening while _**BlazeIT!**_ was continuing to grow into the go-to team for S&R, search and rescue, in the Pacific Northwest and western Canada. People were willing to talk to an 18-year-old with four PhDs only after we had built a name for ourselves and had legal standing as a corporation.

"I talked to Mel a few years back, and she confirmed my fears: the numbers were shrinking…"

-----

"Mel, why is that bad?

"It's bad, Wade, because it means that someone is taking the dealers 'under their wing' or eliminating them and taking their territory."

"Are we talking-" and she cut me off.

"Those are penny-ante compared to what I'm seeing, Wade. These people have funds to match or exceed the Gross Domestic Product of several second-world nations, or even one or two first-world nations," and Wade whistled.

"Those people you were thinking of are all gone, now, Wade: these new people have eliminated their competition, down south."

"I haven't heard anything about it, Mel," and she smiled.

"'Once again, Doctor Load, you are correct,'" Mel replied, and Wade groaned.

"The information just reached my desk from sources, and it's only now reaching GJ: Rebecca Jane got it from me," and Mel looked smug as Wade gave her an exaggerated bow.

"So, who's behind it?" and Mel shrugged.

"No clue, Wade, no clue at all," and Wade was, now, fully worried.

"They, whoever 'they' are, are taking a larger share, and they're becoming more brazen: they are consolidating more and more Third-World holdings for drug harvesting, and the result is becoming more and more potent.

"This is not good, Wade, not good at all…."

-----

Kim picked up where Wade had left off.

"We didn't have a clue, until the news broke, that Bonnie had been ousted from her position as President of Rockwaller Industries, and the news story that she published 12 weeks later that led to her book deal and her getting offers from multiple news agencies.

"She told all, named names, and the Colorado AG couldn't prove a thing.

"She got a great job out of it, and her book deal made her mega-bucks, and she was known in lots of places, but she was probably **not** on the Rockwaller Industries' company Hanukkah and Christmas card list," and Stephen and Jason laughed along with Mike and Justine.

"Bonnie broke the story that, unbeknownst to her, Connie and Lonnie had been providing resources in the way of equipment, funds, and people to various drug dealers through several dummy corporations that couldn't be traced because they were created and dissolved in a matter of days. None of it could be proven enough to have them arrested, but their offices were visited regularly after that by the IRS, the DoJ, and other agencies, both state- and federal-level."

"I never thought that Bonnie would turn out to be your friend, Kim," Justine commented as she slapped Mike's hand away from her cheesecake plate.

"In the midst of all of what's happened since my first trip to Montana, that has to be my biggest shock," Wade commented.

"Well, that and Agamemnon as your middle name, my Aggie," Joss retorted, and Justine and Mike chuckled.

"We can thank Rebecca Jane for that," Kim added, and two more holograms popped into view.

"Why, thank you, Kim," Rebecca Jane Casey-Carlos said from the _**BlazeIT!**_ Command Center in Montana (having flown back to Montana after checking in on Bonnie's condition after the first of what would undoubtedly be multiple surgeries in Middleton Major Medical and Trauma Center). Arnold Patrick Carlos, her husband, sat with her and was answering a **Team Possible** inquiry on another circuit through his headset and virtual HUD (head's up display).

"Even with all of the bad things that we've had to deal with," Rebecca started, "So much good has come from Wade coming to Montana that first trip.

"Hey, I got a husband out of the deal, so I think I came out ahead," Rebecca Jane announced, and Arnold grinned as he stood and took an exaggerated bow, then kissed Rebecca Jane and sat, continuing his response to the **Team Possible** inquiry.

"I met Bonnie for the first time, and we became the best of friends after that swimsuit incident," and Kim and Joss both blushed while Ron and Wade both yelled "**BOOYAH for the swimsuits!**"

"Rebecca Jane, what did you do to Bonnie that made her change so fast?" Justine asked, and Rebecca Jane just smiled.

"I told her what was important," she replied.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked. "The Bonnie I knew would never have spoken to me the way she did the first day of senior year: she was almost human!"

"I knew why she acted that way, because I had done the same, only a few years before…"

-----

(Rebecca Jane)

"Bonnie was wearing the totally wrong swimsuit for her body:

"Her 'girls' needed more support than they were getting in the tape measure that she wore that masqueraded, unsuccessfully, as her suit top. Her suit bottom framed her perfectly, and she wore a tiny cover-up across her lower portion; it didn't cover up.

"Wade told me later that a quote popped into his mind when he saw Bonnie in her suit:

'Bonnie Rockwaller! You might think you're all that, but you're **not**!'

"She looked great in her all-over tan, but she didn't know how to take advantage of it.

"Kim and Jocelyn, on the other hand, had nailed it; of course," (Rebecca Jane grinned wickedly) "I had a little to do with the presentation.

"Kim had picked out the perfect suit: the bikini of Ron's dreams and James Possible's nightmares: the swimsuit-equivalent of the LBD. The top perfectly framed Kim's 'girls' almost as well as Wade's battlesuit had. The white top had multi-colored piping around its edges. The bikini bottom was covered by a perfectly-fitted white sarong tied strategically to conceal and reveal; it, too, had the multi-colored piping.

"I just added the pair of complimentary matching 2-inch white spike-heeled open-toed sandals.

"I decided that Jocelyn needed to not try to look so old but still knock Wade's socks off, (Wade: "Socks, shoes, shirt, pants, everything flew off!" Joss: "Flatterer") so I gave her a look that she first wasn't sure about until the boys in the store all whistled their approval.

"Jocelyn had the perfect white tankini with a matching white sarong that covered the gap between tankini bottom and swimsuit bottom as well as the swimsuit bottom, much both to Wade's delight and disappointment. The makers of their suits must have been the same: hers had the same multi-colored piping around the edges.

"What matched Joss with Kim was the pair of complimentary 1-inch white spike-heeled open-toed sandals, and both ladies clicked their way to the guys.

"I was watching everything, but I was also watching Bonnie.

"Bonnie looked devastated, and she ran back towards the Bunker and into it.

"I ran after her and called out:

"'Bonnie! Wait!'

"Bonnie stopped, and turned to reveal her tear-streaked face.

"'What do you want?' she snarled.

"'To do for you what I did for Kim and Joss,' I replied, taking her hand, and she looked confused.

"'Why?' Bonnie asked, and I wiped the tears from Bonnie's eyes.

"'Three reasons:

"'Because I can,

"'Because you deserve it and I'm doing a friend a favor, and

"'Because, most importantly, I've been where you are, that's why," and I led her on the rest of the way into the Bunker lobby and to the elevators, and we went down to the workout rooms to talk.

"I sat her down, got her a diet cola, and then," Rebecca Jane grinned as a tear came out, and Arnold took her hand, "I told her where I'd been."

---

"Bonnie, I don't know you, all right? But, I'm going to tell you a story about myself, and you stop me when it doesn't fit your life.

"One: I had multiple older sisters, four to be exact, and I was the youngest of the group," and Bonnie grinned.

"Two: my father raped me, repeatedly, from the time I was three years old until I was 13 and old enough to not be able to hide the bruises in girls' PE classes," and Rebecca Jane dropped the third bombshell while Bonnie was till trying to recover from the first two:

"Three: when I told my mother what daddy was doing, she beat me viciously me for telling and sent me back to him.

"Am I close?" I asked, and Bonnie nodded, tears falling harder.

"Momma, you didn't care," Bonnie whispered. "Why did you hate me, Momma", she repeated over and over, and I reached over and took her hand, squeezing it.

"Four: I had a friend, my age, who quit being my friend late in elementary school because she got involved in something that I couldn't do.

"Five: I joined cheerleading because all the popular girls did, and I knew I could get out of the house more, this way," and Bonnie grinned, knowingly. "My friend also wanted to be a cheerleader, and I had to watch her tryout. I dearly wanted her to fall flat on her ass, but she didn't, and I had to let her on the Jr. High cheer squad.

"Still warm?" I continued, and Bonnie smiled and wiped her face, handing me a handkerchief so I could wipe my now-ever-present tears.

"Six: I was smart, but she was smarter, or it just came easier to her, and she always got the guys and the awards, and I always came in second.

"Seven: my sisters teased me unmercifully about this, and more than once did I consider killing myself.

"Eight: I was blessed, although I didn't know it at the time, to go to a swim party: she showed me up, again, coming out in the perfect swimsuit, and I ran away, crying, but this older girl stopped me and told me she would help me.

"Hey, how was that, Bonnie?" I smiled at the now-totally-stunned Bonnie Rockwaller, and now I was crying for both of us.

I put her arms around Bonnie, and that broke the dam: Bonnie's tears flooded my swimsuit, and our shared tears wet both suits and the chairs they sat on, as well.

"How did you know?" Bonnie finally asked when she could stop crying for a moment, and I smiled at her.

"I've lived your life, Bonnie, and I knew all the signs when I saw you for the first time in the Command Center.

"Bonnie, you're a beautiful young woman, but you date the quarterback and go 'round the world' because you don't think he'll like you unless you put out, do you?

"Well, guess what, girlfriend:

"He!

"Doesn't!

"Care!

"He would like you even more if you loved him for him, but you don't love him, do you?" and Bonnie shook her head.

"You're scared of all this, aren't you?"

"Yea," Bonnie replied, "with my luck I'd end up with someone named Ronnie," and she visibly shuddered.

"Have you tasted Ron's cooking, Bonnie?" and she shook her head yes.

"Well, get ready for some more," and I drug her back to the main topic: Bonnie Jean Rockwaller.

"Status, right? Food Chain, right?" Bonnie nodded, and I shook my head emphatically NO!

"Girlfriend: been there, done that, got the T-shirt, and that friend helped me burn the T-shirt," and I laughed. "None of it matters, Bonnie.

"**You** are what matters, Bonnie.

"**You** are what's important.

"Besides, Bonnie, do you have any idea how much grief and kidding I took for my name?

"Rebecca Jane?

"Becky Jane?

"Initials, Bonnie!" and Bonnie laughed with me.

"Let me tell you, Bonnie: **you** are **worth it**! Don't let your mother or your sisters tell you otherwise.

"Let me guess: Lonnie and Ronnie, or Connie and Donnie?"

"You **do** understand!" Bonnie screamed.

"I had Bobbi Jo, Betty Sue, Billie Jean, Brandi Rene, and Bethie Mayrene," I rattled them off, and even Bonnie laughed.

She looked at me, and asked the standard question:

"What's in it for you?"

"I get to see you smile, Bonnie Jean," and Bonnie smiled.

"Besides, I have to pay her off," and now Bonnie was really perplexed.

"I asked the same thing you did, and she answered that same way I answered you.

"Then I asked how much this would cost me," and Bonnie put her hand over her mouth: that was the next sentence coming out, "and she told me:

"'Rebecca Jane: the only cost to you is that you have to let me help you, and you have to promise me to do this for someone else when you're older, someone who's been through the grist mill, like you.

"'Trust me, you'll know her when you see her, and your heart will break when you see it repeated all over again.

"'Pass it to the next girl, Rebecca Jane, and you will have paid me. You're what important, Rebecca Jane.

"'That, and let me buy you a swimsuit: that thing you're wearing is not worth the cloth it's made from,'" and Bonnie laughed.

"Bonnie Jean, Rockwaller, will you let me help you, and do you promise to Pass It On to the Next Girl?"

"I'm not an idiot, Rebecca Jane: of course I will. I'd love to see what you can do."

"Well, for one, you saw Jocelyn's swimsuit, and she doesn't have the girls yet: imagine what I can do for you with those wonderful gifts you have, Bonnie Jean," and I grinned, and Bonnie smiled and cupped both of them and pointed them at me:

"Lead the way," all three of them said, and I smiled inwardly, took her hand and stared into those beautiful blue-green eyes and told her:

"You're what important, Bonnie Jean," and I kissed her forehead and I pulled her out of the office and heading back to the elevator and the future.

-----

"Bonnie?" Justine looked incredulous.

"Bonnie, and countless others besides her have changed because of Rebecca Jane, but none of this would have happened if'n it wasn't for 'my Wade," Joss stared at Wade dreamily.

"You should know, Justine," and Mike was staring into her eyes, dreaming of the picture he now held in his hands, and Justine blushed while Jason, Ron, Stephen, and Wade all laughed.

"And thank you, again, Rebecca Jane: look what I got with the swimsuit!" and Justine pulled Mike into a kiss as everyone cheered for them.

When their lips unfused, Mike looked at Kim, still eating and moaning.

"Joss, you look at Wade the way Kim looks at the cheesecake," Mike noted calmly, and he was then, suddenly, wearing the remains of a dessert plate, compliments of his now-serenely-smiling wife.

"Yea; and there was Jennifer 'I've-gotta-get-me-one-Joss-can't-I-clone-him' Battle," Wade laughed, and Joss grinned.

"But, she got her 'Spicy American dish' in Stephen Lopez," Ron shot back, and Joss grinned even bigger.

"Then, of course, there was Becky "no-Chocolate-for-me" Barlow," Wade grinned, and Kim stepped in to tell that story:

"Justine, Becky had denied her own Native American heritage and hated all minorities, and she freaked when she found out that Joss was dating Wade; she still wasn't taking it well when Wade helped Fletcher, her boyfriend, after he was beaten in a drug bust gone bad; she began to understand, a it, but it took her taking two bullets for her boyfriend to get her to understand fully.

"Well, that, and a little 'extra-special Ron-shine,' and Kim leaned over and kissed Ron.

"booyah, indeed," and Justine giggled.

"But, Rebecca was recruit number 1," Wade replied.

"And, once again, it was Ronshine that brought her to the fold," Joss smirked, and Ron blushed, as did Rebecca Jane.

"We just kept getting people stepping up to the plate to join _**BlazeIT!**_ regardless of whether they were in for the S&R or the drug interdiction," Joss continued. "We had a cause; or, in this case, a set of causes, and good people kept flocking to us, wanting to join the fight.

"It helped that we had touched so many people in our lives, and we never realized it until we began to put the First Annual _**BlazeIT!**_ Company Party together to happen at the Bunker for everyone, and the list scared us…."

- - -

"Wade? Do you know how many people we have in the company now?"

"No clue, Sweet Tea," Wade was committing the cardinal husband sin: only partially listening to his wife as he read the latest white paper on stealth technology and the latest advances from the different countries' military defense and aerospace industries.

"There are 70 million, Wade," Joss grinned.

"That's a bunch, Joss," Wade replied.

"WADE!" and her yell got his attention, and he re-processed her words-

"I'm sorry, Joss, I was thinking about something else," he admitted.

"D'OI!"

"How many?"

"There are almost 150 folks, Wade, not counting their spouses, partners, and children, on both sides of the Rockies, Latin America, South America, and a lot more in Canada and the remainder of the world than I thought.

"Canadians? So, Joe's been recruiting, eh?" Wade grinned, and Joss groaned.

"I wonder what Ron's doing that week," Wade smiled at his upcoming thought. "I could really enjoy a whole mess of Chez Ronald cuisine, and so could most of the team."

"Ahead of you, my Aggie: Ron's already booked, and we're the bookies," Joss gloated. "Rebecca Jane tried the PDP on him, and he lost it," she added.

"She got him with that?"

"No, he was too busy laughing to say no."

"What is your dad going to say, Joss?"

"He just wants to know if we want some buffalo. He's got two that he just processed, and he has a hankerin' for some Ron-style buffalo steaks," and Wade's mouth watered.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"I'm going to have to order a few more cases of shirts and pants for everyone to wear while they're at the Bunker and take home with them, and probably some bigger sizes after we feed them."

"Ya think?" came from Joss, and Wade sighed.

"You've spent too much time around Shirley, Joss."

"I can't help it, Wade.

"When she called me and wanted to talk, I could have dropped an elephant.

"When she told me that she wanted to come to work for _**BlazeIT!**_ I nearly swallowed my head.

"When she told me what she was willing to bring to the table and recommended that I talk to Betty about it, I had to call Momma2 and ask for advice.

"She cut another deal with the remainder of the countries that she hadn't paid the first time after the Diablos, and the rest were just happy to have her off their Most Wanted list that they didn't ask for anything, but her list of activities that she turned over that others had performed definitely didn't hurt her street cred with the other agencies.

"Why do you think she did it, Joss?"

"I don't have any idea, Wade, and she won't talk about it. Kim asked her, but she just grinned and said, "Man trouble, Princess," and turned her back on her.

"A sitch of the heart," Wade smiled, and Joss smiled as she leaned over and kissed him. She skimmed the European contingent list and screamed.

"You didn't tell me that Delta had joined!" Joss yelled, and Wade looked innocent.

"Who is Delta?"

"She was one of the people in the barn with me, Wade.

"Oh.

"Where is she?"

"She and Paula are in Amsterdam; they just helped expand the office there."

"Her and Paula?"

"Yea, she caused a bit of a ruckus when they announced their engagement when Paula graduated from college; Delta was in her third year of medical school, but they had been an unofficial item all during high school. Delta did a good job of masking it from the straight-laced in Montana, but she decided to head south to Texas and out'ed herself, officially to her parents and the rest of her family, by showing up on television as the Grand Marshal at the D/FW GLST 'Gay Pride' Parade.

"Good for her; I'm glad she's happy," Wade smiled.

"Oh, she and Paula are more than ecstatic.

"Do you remember John Garcia Dean?" Joss changed topics faster than an armadillo crossing I15 in the summer.

"My friend from pre-school? Of course."

"And, your paramedic at the airport, my Wade: remember?"

"Actually, I don't remember much: they gave me good drugs, and I was out by the time the ambulance pulled away.

"Well, he snuck in, and he's now in training in Middleton."

"Good for him!"

"And, so is his partner, Wade," and Joss grinned.

Wade looked confused.

"He's gay, Wade," Joss finally replied after Wade looked at her, puzzled, for a few more minutes.

"Really?"

"Yes; and his partner is your other running buddy."

"Jamie Nolan?"

"The one and only," she replied.

"Well, good for them.

"Jamie talked to me about it one day about a year after I got out of the house, finally.

"He wanted to know if he was ill, because that's what everything he'd read had said, and I explained the science to him.

"Then, I told him to follow his heart: look what it got me," Wade smiled and added, "I did have to ask him if it was because he couldn't get a Possible woman," and Joss chuckled.

"He told me that he had a hankerin' for something 'Possible,' but it wasn't a Possible woman."

"Oh. OH! Oh, wow, a Tweeb?"

"Yea, and just like him, he wanted both of them. He said he always wanted twins," and Joss laughed.

"He didn't know just how outnumbered he was; I told him that one Possible, whether male or female, was likely more than any man could handle," Wade continued, and Joss smiled.

"Workin' for some Joss-shine, huh, guy?" she purred, and Wade was doomed.

"I love strawberries," and he reached for her belt….

- - -

"…and, if I remember correctly, that's when our first child was born, a few days over nine months later," Joss grinned, and Justine and Mike laughed.

"One second, sir," and Arnold broke in.

"Kim, do you know a Walter Nelson?" and Justine and Mike and Ron all roared with laughter along with Joss and Wade as Kim's face went past her hair-red.

"I'll take that as a 'yes,' Arnold replied with a smirk.

"He said, first, to thank you, again, and, second, to tell you that nothing was wrong," and Kim took a very long, deep breath.

"What does he want, Arnold?"

"He wants your opinion: he wants to know if he and his wife are too old to join _**BlazeIT!**_ and if not, if you'd give them Dr. Load a recommendation for them," and Wade yelled:

"**BOOYAH!"** and his fist slammed the air.

"Kim, Walter and his wife Marisa are the best minds in the field of criminal psychology in the world. I've been trying to get either or both of them, but they've been unreachable for the last nine years.

"Please, Kim? Pretty Please: Can I have the Nelsons?" and Wade put on the Puppy Dog Pout, and the entire room was filled with uproarious laughter.

"They can help us figure out what Connie and Lonnie are really up to.

"They're not smart enough to be leading this operation together," Kim remarked, and all nodded. "There has to be someone or 'someone's' pulling the strings.

"GJ has tapped the circuits, and they've found nothing but a cryptic reference to Shego, but nothing that even indicated that Connie and Lonnie were getting any direction.

"All we know is that all of the drugs, both the attempted and successful murders and assassinations, even the major 'terroristic-appearing events,' all point back to Rockwaller Industries.

"That's where 'Retribution' comes in.

"Retribution is designed and planned to do something simple: take out every drug dealer and supplier around the world, from the poppy growers to the junior high school principal selling 'spray cheezi' to his students, and do it simultaneously with the cooperation and approval of the United Nations Organization, every national and state/provincial governmental agency where we operate (and several where we don't) are, as well as the military and police forces," Wade smiled, and Mike, Jason, and Stephen all gasped.

"That's impossi-" Jason was out of his chair when he realized what he was about to say, and he caught Kim's stare and smile.

"Sorry, I forgot," Jason sat back down as Wade continued.

"Drug dealers killed Slim's wife and Jocelyn's mother, and they almost took Jocelyn from me before I was born.

"Drug dealers sold to Stephanie's foster parents, and that line of coke they snorted before they raped her sentenced her to death faster than Judge Jamie.

"I couldn't save three of Stephanie's little brothers and sisters; the drugs got to them, and all three died of overdoses," and Wade's face was wet as he looked up. "I'm sorry, Stephanie; I couldn't get them all; I tried," and Joss took his head in her hands.

"Drug lords had the plane shot down," Wade continued when his head came up, his face wet, "because they thought, erroneously, that Mel Claremore was on it, and they left her unborn son fatherless.

"There's been so much more, but it stops, now, when we get the request and approval to launch."

"This will not be a small operation, but that's not important," and Kim and Joss both smiled.

"What **is** important is the success number:

"**100 per cent eradication in 24 hours with zero leaks** to the other organizations; no one gets away, and the announcement of our success occurs, worldwide, at the same time.

"Mike, Justine," and Wade turned and faced them.

He wasn't sure what to say, so he just spoke from his heart:

"I'm sorry.

"I'm sorry you got drug into this unknowingly: these same drug overlords are the ones who ordered your house torched, tried to kill you, and, when that didn't work, went after the school, Mike.

"I'm sorry they came after your kids, but now you understand the Stoppable NacoManor and where it is: partially underground and hardened, its own water and power systems, communications systems with multiple redundancies, and sets of other things that, if I told you what all of them were, I'd have to kill you…seriously," and he laughed.

"You owe us nothing, Wade," Mike said, placing his arm around Justine and reaching for her remaining cheesecake at the same time. She beat him to it, and he sighed and continued.

"You didn't start the fire or point the guns at **my** kids at the school-" but Wade interrupted.

"And they are the ones who ordered the hit on Felix and Monique, and they are also the ones who went after Bonnie," Wade added, but Mike waved him off.

"When they went after my kids at my school, Wade, they signed their own death warrants; they just didn't know it at the time," and Mike grinned and stood up, walking over to the refrigerator.

He pulled out an almost-empty keg, drained it by lifting it over his hear, and crushed the barrel.

"They're mine, now, Wade, and Satan help them because God sure as hell won't," and Justine nodded her agreement.

After he stood, Ron picked up the Glenlevit and went around to each person present, pouring a small shot into each glass. He came back to his seat, placed the now-empty bottle down on the table with an audible 'THUMP," stood, and lifted his glass. Wade and Joss held up their glasses as did Rebecca Jane and Arnold, now headset-less and minus his HUD.

Ron began.

"re," Ron announced, almost inaudibly.

"tri," came at the same level from Kim as she stood.

"bu," came from Joss as she did the same.

"tion," came from Wade, following the lead.

The sounds repeated, louder and louder as Mike and Justine, Jason and Stephen, Rebecca Jane and Arnold all joined in, in turn.

"Re,"

"tri,"

"bu,"

"tion,"

"Re,"

"Tri,"

"bu,"

"tion,"

"Re,"

"Tri,"

"Bu,"

"tion," and they all joined in,

"Re,"

"Tri,"

"Bu,"

"Tion," and then the one word came as a shout from every pair of lips:

"RETRIBUTION!" as all the glasses drained at the same time.

-----

"Don?

"Yes, Dean?" the voice was young and exasperated, but that was how Don Stoppable was with his younger brother, Dean.

"Are you awake?

"D'OI!"

"Do you have a good signal?"

"Bon-diggity: all points reading platinum."

"Good.

"JD?

"I'm on, Dean" came from James Load.

"Good.

"How about Liz?"

"I'm here, Dean," was Liz Load's response.

"Great! We're Loaded," and Dean grinned as Don groaned.

"Beth-Anne? Donna?"

"We're platinum, Dean," came the chorus from the other halves of the Tweebs, Beth-Anne and Donna Stoppable

"Great: we're all here," Dean responded.

"How are the battle suit trials coming along?"

"All done at LoadsVillle: everything is platinum," came from Liz Load, James Load's younger sister.

"The Tweeb-1 set is platinum, Dean," came from Donna Stoppable, Don's twin sister.

"The Tweeb-2 set is platinum, also, Dean," came from Beth-Anne Stoppable, Dean twin sister.

"Wonderful.

"So, we're ready to apply the upgrades now?" and all of the faces nodded.

"Good. JD, you want to take charge of that?"

"Oh, sure, make the Load work the load," JD joked, and he clicked his mouse.

"All done," JD announced after 2.3 seconds. "All suits upgraded with newest software. You just need to test, and the test cycle is automated: it should take about 10 minutes.

"You'll have to figure out how to get the suits up here if'n you want the new fusion power cell," JD grinned.

"How big?" Dean asked, and JD held up his thumbnail.

"Twice as big as that," JD replied, "and perfectly square: it slides in the existing connections, so there's no power loss on the grid."

"Will the new power source handle the new weapons loads, JD?"

"Tested and approved with the LSA, Dean," joked JD.

"LSA?"

"Load Seal of Approval: D'oi, Dean."

"Oops…sorry.

"What are we looking at, time-wise, to upgrade the 'rent's suits?"

"36 hours straight; 2.5 days if I have to do in the usual manner," JD replied, and Liz grinned.

"Stealth, huh?" and JD nodded.

"Mike's suit is the one I'm worried about," JD admitted. "None of us can test it because we can't wear it properly."

"No Big, JD: when we drop the suits on Justine, Mike, Jason, and Stephen, we'll get good tests out of them in the Bunker."

"Are Mike and Justine in?"

"In like BonBon," and JD grinned. "Dad always wanted to do a battle-suit fitting for her," JD started, and Liz finished:

"…but Mom would kill him if'n he did the regular measurement capture," and they all laughed.

"We'll get hers done when she's out of the hospital.

"JD?" Donna called him.

"Do you think our 'rents know what we're doing?" she asked, and JD laughed.

"If they don't know, they at least suspect that something's going on. If they don't, they're not our parents," and Don laughed.

"We'll need to have a suit for Jane Cotton, pretty soon," Donna suggested, and Liz smiled.

"Hers is already in the final stages, Donna; Don took the measurements when she was dancing with her dad, and he sent them to JD.

"Yeah: hers is gonna be cool: I always wanted to make a suit with red bands, and hers will be the first."

"Red?" Don asked.

"Yea, Don, red, after what she did to save her parents' stuff and her brothers and sisters.

"It's the first one off the line that was made after we all signed off on the prototype.

"It's the Stephanie line," and the all got quiet. All but JD and Liz had known the whole story until today, and this afternoon was their first full introduction to Stephanie Watership.

"Now I know why Dad cares so much," Liz broke the silence, and Don nodded.

"Liz, now that you know about Stephanie, we need to tell you about our Mom and your Dad."

"Eewwww!" came across the air, and Don shook his head.

"Not like that, Liz," and he told her and JD how Kim and Wade first met, and the story about the Bunker confrontation.

"wow," came from JD and Liz.

"wow is right, JD. Liz, your Dad Rocks in 16-channel multisound," Donna added, and Liz stared at her.

"Dad? Rocks?" she asked incredulously. "Seriously?"

and the chorus answered:

"Seriously."

"That's enough for tonight; we'll get back together next week; I'll message you with the time and freq, 'k?" and everyone nodded.

"Sleep tight, no bedbugs," and the secure videolinks all disconnected simultaneously.

"Donna?"

"Yes, Beth-Anne?"

"What's a bedbug, and why would it bite?"

"Long story, Beth: Scan it in the AM, all right?"

"OK, Donna. Thanks, Big Sis."

"No bit, Little Sis. Let's get some sleep."

-----

"What about Bonnie?"

"She's off the air," and a thin smile crossed the lips

"WHERE IS SHE?"

"She's in the hospital in the 3rd of several operations, and we have someone on the inside, as well.

"Good," and the voice jumped 50 decibels when a note was handed and read.

"WHERE IS SHEGO?"

"We lost the trace on her over the Atlantic; we're looking for her, but no news, yet."

"FINE!" came from an exasperated voice.

"How are the latest shipments to the United States?"

"All on schedule; penetration up .4 per cent."

"Good."

"The Flanners were not eliminated?"

"No; they are now at the Stoppables."

"Frack.

"The Rentons?"

"In the hospital, as well."

"WHAT?

"THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

"I know, but the woman was underestimated, as was Bonnie. Besides, no one knew that the woman had any training, and no one suspected that the Global Justice agent would be nearby; otherwise, Bonnie would be gone.

"We can't keep having these kinds of mistakes."

"I understand."

"No, you don't."

"One more failure, Lonnie, and you're next."

"Understand now?"

"Understood," and the video circuit dropped with a audible 'pop.'

"I'm the friggin' CEO, and I still have to take that crap," Lonnie Rockwaller muttered to herself as Connie Rockwaller, her sister, sauntered in.

"You missed the reaming, Connie," Lonnie snarled.

"But, you're so better at taking it, Lonnie," Connie retorted and smiled.

"Besides, I was busy," she added.

"With what?"

"Duh, getting my nails done; it's Friday, sister," and Connie grinned and held her hands up, inspecting her nail job.

"Oh, right.

"They missed Bonnie," Lonnie announced, and Connie cringed.

"How many did we lose today?" she asked

"All but one; GJ has him."

"Easy come, easy go," was Connie's response.

"How much?"

"Our cut: $425M this week," and Connie smiled as she heard Lonnie's report.

"I can get the new Gourd, now," Connie smiled, and their conversation continued.

-----

"Are we getting a good signal this time?"

"Perfect, Bumblebee," was the response.

"Great, Curly, don't get cocky," Bumblebee responded, and Curly grinned.

"Think Aggie can use any of this?"

"Hope so; I still don't recognize the voice, though."

And Rebecca and Fletcher Benge, continuing the satellite monitoring of the office tap in the office of Rockwaller Industries' CEO, Lonnie Rockwaller, from the _**BlazeIT!**_ Bunker, played 'footsie' under the table.

"That tickles, Curly," she announced, and he smiled.

"You used to not feel that, BB: I'm so glad you can, now."

"So am I, Curly, so am I," and she ran her foot and leg much higher.

"Oooo, somebody's being naughty….

"A boo, and a yah, are indeed in order," Fletcher announced as he smiled at his wife and squirmed in his seat.

-----

chapter now complete….

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**Author's afterward: **

A very special set of thanks go out to the following:

CajunBear73, Slyrr, and Pharaoh Rutin Tutin for virtual beta'ing me this past week when I slammed them with two passes at the first 1/2 of the chapter: all the mistakes are mine, and much of the good stuff I added, I owe to them for inspiration. And, the Egyptian Eagle-Eye and the Finnish Sensation Sir Sebastain for catching two minor errors that got past me after I posted (love update capability).

King in Yellow for keeping me on the straight and narrow (and, he does KiGo?) in my discussions earlier with him about all sorts of disconnected topics that are coming together in this tale (not an epic tale yet...a few more chapters...).

Thank you, to all of you, for continuing to support me and provide me with a sounding board.

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This story is dedicated to all of the people who toil, hourly and daily, on the front lines as well as at the desks, so that we will never need to implement 'Retribution' in our lifetimes.

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It's back, and you have some answers.

And, being me, I've brought you some more questions to whet your whistle (for those of you old enough to know what that means….)

For all of you wonderful Jade fans: thanks for waiting for me to get back in the saddle.

Thanks for your continued support, and PM me if you have any questions about this portion of the JadeKimVerse. I respond to all PMs, emails, and reviews.

And, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank all of my readers for their support in the Fannies.

I am still a bit in shock to have been awarded by you, my readers, the recognition of Best New Writer of 2006 along with King in Yellow, as well as recognition as one of the top three vote-getters in the category of Best Alternative Pairings for Joss and Wade.

This is our award, because I couldn't have done it without you, my readers.

Thank you.

**Preview: **

Who will place the first call for 'Retribution?'

Who will balk at Retribution's implementation?

Will Retribution be implemented?

What are these kids doing?

Who is Lonnie talking to?

Chapter 5: Retribution: Step Two is next, and you'll get some of your answers there.

Thanks for reading, and please review.


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